What you need to know
As district administrators are crafting a budget for fiscal year 2024-25, they said they are looking for ways to improve compensation for all employees.
A new report on compensation from the Texas Association of School Boards has revealed where the district can improve compensation to be more competitive with other area districts to retain more employees.
At the same time, they are working to reduce the shortfall projected for the upcoming fiscal year.
The details
The TASB compensation study shows teachers in GISD with zero years of experience are paid close to market value, but pay for teachers with more experience falls slightly below the median market rate.
The study came with a set of recommendations for adjustments to the district's pay structure, including the improvement of starting salaries or adopting a general pay increase, as well as converting incentive payments to stipends for hard-to-fill positions, such as special education and bilingual roles.
What else?
GISD's Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Hanna said her team has reduced the projected shortfall for FY 2024-25 from $2.2 million to about $1.8 million by finding efficiencies in the following areas:
- Reducing central office and support positions
- Increasing the high school and middle school class size formula
- Reducing allocated funds for district departments
- Eliminating travel stipends for executive director roles and above
- Reducing travel, food purchases and overtime
The board of trustees will consider the recommendations from TASB to improve compensation at the next board meeting on April 15. Hanna said her department will bring forth a final budget proposal at the board's June meeting.
