Chief Human Resources Officer Christina Courson presented three proposals to the trustees during the regular board meeting Oct. 21, and trustees approved one of the proposals during the Oct. 28 meeting.
How we got here
Several HCISD special education teachers, paraprofessionals and parents shared concerns with the district’s Foundational Learning classes at board meetings last month, as previously reported by Community Impact.
Large class sizes, safety issues and potential Individualized Education Program plan violations were a few concerns raised, which prompted special education department officials to seek and present solutions to the board, including increasing stipends.
Breaking it down
According to Courson, there are currently 15 special education teacher vacancies in HCISD:
- 9 inclusion/resource teachers
- 4 Foundational Learning teachers
- 1 early childhood special education teacher
- 1 teacher for the visually-impaired
What are the options?
Along with increasing stipends, Courson said increasing the daily rates for special education substitute teachers and expanding the district’s “grow your own” special education teacher initiative will help HCISD remain competitive by attracting and retaining staff.
The board considered three proposals brought forward by Courson:
- Proposal A requests a $130,050 prorated budget amendment, consisting of $15,000 for the grow your own initiative, $48,750 to increase special education stipends and $66,300 to increase special education substitute teacher daily rates.
- Proposal B requests a $795,990 prorated budget amendment, consisting of $40,000 for the grow your own initiative, $616,250 to increase special education stipends and $139,740 to increase special education substitute teacher daily rates.
- Proposal C requests a $1 million prorated budget amendment, consisting of $80,000 for the grow your own initiative, $820,000 to increase special education stipends and $139,740 to increase special education substitute teacher daily rates.
The board approved Proposal B in a 5-0 vote Oct. 28, as recommended by staff.
Courson said Proposal A may not provide enough for staff, and Proposal C would result in a nearly 1% cost of living adjustment for employees.
“I think [Proposal B] is a balance, and that it’s a great first step,” trustee Courtney Runkle said during the Oct. 21 meeting. “While there are still other things to address, and I know that we will get there, I greatly appreciate the district, the administration, and most importantly our staff and our families—especially in the special education department—who are incredibly vulnerable and transparent and are not afraid to speak up.”
What it means
Proposal B will:
- Increase general special education stipends from $1,750 to $2,125 and specialized special education stipends from $2,500 to $3,750
- Increase special education guest teacher daily rates to $170 per day
- Increase long-term special education guest teacher daily rates to $175 per day for noncertified teachers and $200 per day for certified teachers
- Increase special education paraprofessional daily rates to $125 per day and long-term paraprofessional substitute rates to $130 per day
- Pay special education classroom teachers a retention incentive of $1,500, to be paid Jan. 24 for the 2024-25 school year
Per budget documents, the $375 increase to the general and specialized special education stipends will be distributed on an annualized basis starting in January and paid out monthly through the rest of the school year.
Stay tuned
Board President Raul Vela Jr. said the board will have another special education update at its Nov. 12 meeting.
