What you need to know
A compensation study conducted by the Texas Association of School Boards shows RRISD teachers were paid just above a median salary in the 2023-24 school year, based on compensation surveys for neighboring districts and nonschool employers.
Data for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years shows the district has improved its position in relation to neighboring districts, especially for newer teachers with zero to 10 years of experience, who make up about half of those employed by the district.
What they're saying
In a presentation of the study's findings March 28, Amy Campbell, director of HR services for TASB, said these improvements to compensation come at a time when the district is likely unable to make further strides in raising pay for staff, as many area school districts are expecting tight budgets for fiscal year 2024-25.
"A lot of the work that you've done as a district to improve pay has really paid off," she said. "You'll see in the charts that the percentages to market look much better than what I shared with you last year. The mixed bag is that you're not alone in having budget woes again this year where you are unlikely to be able to do everything you want to do to be able to improve pay. All of your local districts that we're working with are in the same boat and struggling with the same tough decisions."
The details
Similar to teacher pay, nonteacher pay in RRISD is mostly coming in at 100% or above the market rate, with some exceptions at around 98% and 99% for some positions.
As the district heads into a difficult budget year, Campbell presented three recommendations for its 2024-25 compensation plan. District administrators will choose from the following recommendations when crafting the compensation plan for the upcoming school year:
- Make limited pay structure adjustments to avoid pay compression and align with improvements seen in teacher compensation
- Adopt a 1% or 2% general pay increase to maintain market position
- Make adjustments to maintain equity across job groups, with a 1% increase above minimum pay range.
