If approved, educational assistants, or EAs, and paraprofessionals assigned to pay grades 102-109 will receive pay increases effective April 1. These increases will not impact teacher pay, although the board will cover it in larger budget discussions that evening.
The starting pay for RRISD educational assistant II positions is $13.15, with a maximum of $18.85. If the board approves this amendment, starting pay for this position will increase to a minimum of $15.50 and maximum of $21.86.
Just one week before, during a March 24 meeting, district education assistants and other paraprofessionals called on the district for pay increases as the cost of living rises in the Austin-Round Rock area.
Cindy Hernandez, a 15-year EA with the district, told the board that in the time she has worked for RRISD, her district wages forced her to sell her home and rely on family members to house herself and her three children, who were students in the district during that time.
Hernandez's experience is not unique, according to multiple former and current district employees who told the board that their benefits and pay no longer stretch as far as they used to.
Deaf education assistant Tori Beard said the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment outside of Austin already exceeds her monthly wage.
"We all know that increased value should equal increased pay," Beard said. "Unfortunately, that's not the case here in the last two years."
The board's recent budget discussions regarding pay include increases of 1%, 2% or 3% for the upcoming year. That would increase the projected deficit for the year by $8 million to up to $13.8 million, according to RRISD Chief Finance Officer Dennis Covington.
Regarding district wages, rising inflation and the cost of living recently dominated preliminary discussion of the RRISD 2022-23 budget held by its board of trustees March 9.
Trustees have also expressed concerns about additional pressures on district staff retention and have tried to identify possible solutions including pay increases and health care policy.
"We're facing ... a difficulty retaining and attracting our workforce, inflation in every aspect of our expenses," Place 4 Trustee Cory Vessa said March 9. "[We have] more demands for our students in terms of learning loss and social-emotional needs. We're just in a difficult situation."
