The Pflugerville ISD board of trustees unanimously approved a 2% general pay increase and a minimum wage of $17 an hour during its regular meeting April 19.
Explained
Chief Human Resources Officer Willie Watson said PfISD’s teacher salaries were ranked “third or fourth” compared to Austin, Leander and Round Rock ISDs in 2019.
While salaries have gradually increased in the years since and become competitive with neighboring districts, Watson said PfISD salaries are “starting to lag a tad bit” for those with five to 20 years of experience, falling below Round Rock.
While PfISD remains above the 2023-24 local market median salary, Watson said it only takes one year of raises not being high enough for the district to “fall back in the pack.”
“Seventy percent of our new teachers are five years [of experience] and below,” Watson said. “... Particularly [with] those entry schedules, we need to make sure we’re as competitive as possible since over two-thirds of our new teachers and new hires come from that area.”
The action taken
The board approved the recommended 2% salary increase, which Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Land said equates to an increase of about $5.6 million.
With an increase in hourly wage to $17 an hour and other equity adjustments, Land added that the increase really averages out to be about 2.9%.
Based on recommendations from PfISD administration and the Texas Association of School Boards, Land said the board’s approval of the general pay increase also includes:
- Increasing teacher starting salaries to $57,700
- Increasing special education teacher stipends by $1,500 and $3,000
- Increasing registered nurse starting salaries to $63,750—up $5,000—and a one-pay-grade increase for licensed vocational nurses
- A bus driver starting hourly rate of $23.50—up $1—plus placement scale adjustments
- A bus monitor starting hourly rate of $17—up $1.50—plus placement scale adjustments
Per a district news release, salaries for PfISD's 3,000 employees make up 86% of the annual budget.
With the 2% general pay increase to take effect in the 2024-25 school year, Land said the district is looking at a budget shortfall of about $6.9 million.
“I do want to say that we realize the budget is based on information and the assumptions at a given point in time,” Land said. “We are continuing to refine the budget. The budget is fluid; it is not static. As we continue to get more information, it may change between now and when you actually adopt a budget in August.”
Quote of note
“I’m going to have faith like we did the last time when we went into a $7.1 [million] deficit that something will come through,” board President Renae Mitchell said. “We have 6,000 kids in our district that could be coming to our school that are going to charter schools for now. We’re going to be looking at a campaign to get some of those back. ... It’s going to take all of us telling our story why Pflugerville is the best district to come to, to work here and to bring your kids here.”
