Teachers within Leander ISD will receive a 3 percent raise, or $1,514 per teacher, and a $44,900 starting salary after trustees approved the increase at its June 2 board workshop. Trustees also voted for a 2 percent midpoint salary increase for non-teacher employees. District administration presented several raise scenarios for trustees to consider. Trustees engaged in lengthy discussion about budget and legislative session before voting for the 3 percent raise. Trustee Don Hisle said a significant pay increase for teachers and non-teachers would help address the rising cost of living, including health insurance premiums. “We have to do something for the teachers and the non-teachers this year,” Hisle said. “I think it's time we try to make this leap to put us ahead.” Trustee Aaron Johnson said because it is difficult to predict how the district will be affected by upcoming legislation as well as what valuations will be, the decision on how much of a raise to approve is a difficult one. “I’m struggling to make these choices in an environment where any of these choices suggest we don’t have any fund balance in four years,” Johnson said. “That’s what our model says. The reality is very unlikely to follow our model. … I just don’t know how it’s going to deviate from our model. The challenge is just that we’re so sensitive to a potential decline in valuation.” Superintendent Bret Champion said administration recommended 3 percent raise because it was one of the scenarios that had the least effect on the fund balance in the long-term and because it is a competitive amount in the Central Texas market. “We have to do the best we can with the model we have to predict what can, may, should happen,” Trustee Pamela Waggoner said. “But we also have … teachers that need a cost-of-living raise and we need to be competitive.” Trustees also approved new positions including three dual-language teachers, five elementary school library assistants, two social workers, two general maintenance technicians and 18 bus drivers.

Elementary attendance zoning

Trustees also approved Scenario C for the district’s 2017-18 elementary attendance zoning. District staff developed Scenario C after receiving community feedback from Scenario A. Scenario C “uses the foundation of Scenario A, but leaves students residing in the Ben Brook Ranch North, Oak Grove Road and Savanna Ranch neighborhoods zoned for Plain Elementary School. The zoning means Plain will be over capacity in 2017-18, but could see relief when elementary school no. 27 opens in 2019-20, according to LISD’s demographic update from October 2015. Trustees first began discussing elementary school rezoning in March to plan for the opening of elementary school No. 26, which will be located in front of Stiles Middle School on Barley Road in Leander. The campus opens in August 2017. Jimmy Disler, LISD’s senior executive director of operations, said he received positive feedback from the community about Scenario C. “We had no one against it,” Disler said.