$13.41

I sat staring at my phone in complete disbelief. I had been casually reading the information to an interested friend when I just stopped and stared. “It must be a typo,” I mumbled more to myself than anyone else at the table. “It absolutely must be.” But of course, it wasn’t.

When they say the administrative assistants are the glue that hold offices together, the description could not be more accurate, especially for an elementary school secretary. I’ve been an admin assistant before, and I know many of the behind-the-scenes work that goes on to keep an office running smoothly. At an elementary school, the front desk is the first line of defense against classroom interruptions, never-ending paperwork and deadlines, materials, copies, student needs, teacher needs, administration needs – the list could go on for days.

Barb is Wonder Woman in my eyes. She not only keeps everything running, she does it so well that we take for granted how much she handles every day. She makes endless phone calls to parents, to other buildings, to schools. She sets up meetings, she arranges for materials, she orders supplies, she keeps track of who needs to sign what and get it turned in by when. There isn’t a parent of any one of our students who hasn’t been positively impacted by Barb’s capabilities, whether they know it or not. She is the gatekeeper to our principal and the one who I am certain helps him manage all the duties of his position more efficiently.

I have repeatedly asked her for information she has already sent to me. I have numerously started a conversation with her with the words, “I know you told me this already, but remind me…” I have asked her for help with situations that are not even hers to deal with and never once has she been short with me, or anything less that pleasantly helpful. Even more than that, she will go above and beyond to lighten my load when hers is already plenty deep and heavy.

We just learned that she was leaving us a couple days ago. Our district is fortunate enough to still be employing her – she is far too much of a talent for us to lose – but she will no longer be managing our building’s office. We were all so very happy for her promotion, but so deeply worried at our own personal and professional loss. And it is personal. Barb is more than just our school administrative assistant, she is a friend to all of us.

So it was with complete shock that I sat at the table in the restaurant reading the job posting to an interested friend. The shock was obviously not because of the posting itself, I already knew she was leaving. The shock was over the posted salary. $13.41/hr. In a crowded restaurant with great music and lively conversation all around me, I sat shell-shocked. $13.41 an hour? That’s it? I could not for the life of me understand how all her talent, all her responsibilities, all that she pours into that position is only worth $13.41 an hour. Now, maybe she makes a bit more as she’s been here a while, but if that’s the starting wage, whatever she is earning, it isn’t half enough.

The job description made the position seem like anyone could do it. “High school diploma. Three years office experience. Typing. Microsoft knowledge. Blah, blah blah. Pleasant personality.” Umm, where was the “ability to nimbly juggle eighteen tasks at once with ringing phones and irate parents standing in front of you and a kid throwing up in the sick room?” Where was the “Experience working with stressed, forgetful and sometimes scatter-brained staff who will depend on you for their every need most days?” And most importantly, where was the salary to compensate for that?

Hours later, I’m still reeling from the shock and realization that for all these years, she has done this job for pennies. Working in education is “never about the money” people love to say, but my goodness, the money does matter! I will hope and pray that we are able to find someone half as capable and wonderful as Barb. I will rejoice in the fact that she will still be around, just at central office, where she will continue to juggle a million things and she will do so with a smile and a pleasant laugh, like she does, with nothing phasing her. But I will shake my head at the world we live in and the appalling salaries we pay some of our most vital people.

$13.41. She could have made more by asking if you wanted fries with that.