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Carbondale Area superintendent hired to top slot at Crestwood School District

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Sestak says he’s counting on ‘anti-establishment sentiment’

<p>Luzerne County administrators want to use pay increases to address concerns about turnover, morale and recruitment at the county 911 center.</p><p>A proposed union contract amendment to boost the starting salary of 911 telecommunicators from $25,500 to $32,000 is on Tuesday&#8217;s county council agenda.</p><p>If the amendment passes:</p><p>&#8226; The compensation for all current and new telecommunicators would be raised to at least $32,000.</p><p>&#8226; Current telecommunicators making more than $32,000 would receive a $2,500 raise.</p><p>&#8226; Those with a least three years of experience would be eligible to become telecommunicator specialists, which comes with an additional $2,500 raise. The center will allow up to 33 specialists. To obtain the reclassification, telecommunicators must pass a written test and meet other quality assurance standards.</p><p>&#8226; All telecommunicators with at least one year of experience will be eligible to enroll in a communications training officer course that will allow them to earn additional $20 to $40 stipends per shift training new employees.</p><p>The telecommunicators are part of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) residual union.</p><p>Staffing concerns rose to the forefront during criticism over the center&#8217;s dispatching of emergency crews to the wrong location in a May 2014 fatal blaze.</p><p>The union issued a report that July referencing a problem with turnover and the departure of experienced telecommunicators, saying the &#8220;overall quality of the dispatchers is at an all-time low.&#8221;</p><p>An October 2014 independent study requested by the administration highlighted the center&#8217;s 19-percent turnover rate, excessive mandatory overtime and challenges filling vacancies.</p><p>Last April, the council&#8217;s 911 inquiry committee recommended the center focus on resources needed for improvement.</p><p>County 911 Executive Director Fred Rosencrans said Monday the center regularly loses employees who leave for better-paying dispatching positions in other counties or the state.</p><p>The county&#8217;s 2016 budget allows 65 telecommunicators, and the center currently has 14 vacancies, he said.</p><p>Without the amendment, telecommunicators who have worked at the county 911 center for 10 years make less than state police communications dispatchers who start at $37,000, Rosencrans said.</p><p>At least one neighboring county starts 911 telecommunicators at $32,000.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m basically training someone several months to leave and go to another county to make more. I&#8217;m hoping this quells that,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Rosencrans said he has enough funding in his 2016 budget to cover the raises and training without an increase from the county&#8217;s general fund operating budget, which kicks in $1.1 million toward 911 expenses this year.</p><p>The lion&#8217;s share of the center&#8217;s revenue &#8212; $6.4 million &#8212; is from a state fee on land and wireless phone lines, he said.</p><p>The telecommunicators will receive more training and be held to a &#8220;higher standard&#8221; if the changes pass, he said. The center fields about 450,000 emergency and administrative calls annually, he said.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m hoping and confident this will help us recruit quality candidates and allow us to maintain that veteran staff that helped me through this storm that we were experiencing,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The council is scheduled to vote on the amendment at its Tuesday meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. in the council meeting room at the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Rosencrans </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Rosencrans-Fred.jpg</photo0><caption0>Rosencrans </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Pay increases proposed for Luzerne County 911 union workers