Greensboro, NC - Many Guilford County Schools (GCS) school nutrition services (SNS) staff participated in a walkout today to express their concerns regarding pay. District leadership has met with school nutrition staff. The compensation plan includes the following:   

 - A 4% salary increase across the board for SNS assistants over last year. 2.3% of the salary increase has already been implemented. The remainder of the increase will be reflected in the December paycheck. The plan will increase the wages for SNS assistants from a starting $12.25 per hour wage in 2021 to $15.86 per hour in 2023.  

 - A 7% salary increase for most SNS managers over last year. SNS managers who were held harmless based on their prior year salary will receive a minimum of a 4% salary increase. 2% of the salary increase has already been implemented for most employees. The remainder of the increase will be reflected in the December paycheck. The new plan will increase the wages for SNS managers from a starting $13.75 per hour wage in 2021 to $18.60 per hour at minimum.   

 - SNS managers serving over 100 meals on average per day will qualify for a pro-rated quarterly bonus.  

When the state issued a 4% raise for classified employees in October 2023, SNS staff were not included in the funding for these raises because SNS operates as an independent, self-sustaining enterprise. Funding is determined by the number of paid meals served and reimbursements from the federal government. The district has been committed to not raising lunch prices for families. There have been no increases in school lunches since the 2017-2018 school year.  

We had 66 schools that reported impacts from the walkouts today, and these impacts varied from school to school. Over 200 central office staff were deployed to schools, and we worked with vendors on our approved list to send food to schools. The district is making preparations to ensure we are able to provide meals to students tomorrow.

Our staff deserves appropriate compensation, just as our students have a right to participate in our meal programs.