Hourly TPS Workers Take Financial Hit With Recent Snow Days

Tulsa Public schools has used three snow days this year. While kids love them, support staff workers who are paid hourly say it makes it hard to make ends meet.

If you add the snow days to Spring Break coming up soon, TPS support staff will see at least two short paychecks in the very near future, making finances tight.

Snow days are the highlight of a child's winter, but for staff like cafeteria workers and bus drivers, the day off work means a day without pay.

"Yes, it cuts into their wages and, you know, they have bills just like the rest of us," said Celia Clinton Cafeteria Manager, Thermaple Borens.

Many TPS support staff are hourly, most making below $10 an hour.

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Borens said for staff living paycheck to paycheck, an unexpected day off can hurt.

"Most of them don't really have a second income so that affects them a lot," she said.

Now for the first time, TPS is giving support staff one paid snow day. The others will be made up at the end of the year.

Borens said, "I just don't know what they will do. They just won't have that income coming in, so they'll have to do whatever they'll have to do."

The good news for TPS workers is everyone got a stipend Friday; for the support staff it was $500.

It's unrelated to the snow, but will definitely help out.