The decision stems from a Texans for Excellence in Education study, which found that many CISD salaries were below market average, said Tamy Smalskas, assistant superintendent for administration. The organization is a nonprofit that seeks to provide guidance to public schools.
The details
The salary increase will be achieved by providing a 3% of midpoint raise for staff across the board, Smalskas said. A midpoint salary is the middle point in a salary range of a particular pay grade usually between the highest and lowest salaries. Teachers, administration and clerical staff are all different pay grades. The 3% raise applies to the midpoint salary of each pay grade in the district.
Using the midpoint as the basis for pay increase calculation ensures employees in the same pay grade will receive the same rate of increase, according to the Texas Association of School Boards.
“With benefits, we’re looking at a $2.1 million impact to the budget with $1.8 million of that being toward salary,” Smalskas said.
However, a large portion of the cost could be offset with savings from adjusting the student-teacher ratios and the earnings from the district’s new stadium sponsor, Smalskas said. The district could allocate $1.6 million and $98,150 from each respectively for the 2024-25 school year.
Going forward
The district’s goal with the pay increase was to bring the average salaries in each pay grade to 95% of the market average, but even with the raise there are some positions that would not reach that level, Smalskas said.
Therefore the district discussed an additional pay bump at an April 15 budget workshop for clerical and paraprofessional staff and auxiliary staff to bring those positions within 95% of the market average.
In total this would add $19,000 on top of the $2.1 million needed for raises, Smalskas said. District officials will bring the item before the board for approval at the April 29 meeting.
