The district has focused some of its hiring efforts on recruiting substitutes and former students while also participating in college job fairs.
Beyond hiring substitutes or former students, MISD travels to universities and colleges to recruit employees, said Darla Jackson, director of human resources for the district. This includes speaking to aspiring teachers and participating in university and college job fairs, she said.
In the 2023-24 school year, the district also sent letters of intent to strong candidates who attended an MISD job fair. This resulted in hiring over 60 employees before the official hiring season began.
The big picture
Despite budget restraints, MISD has provided a compensation increase for its teachers and other employees to help retain and attract employees.
On average, teacher raises cost the district $1.3 million per 1% increase, the district’s Chief Financial Officer Marlene Harbeson said.
In the 2023-24 school year, teachers received a raise of $1,950, which is roughly equivalent to a 3% raise. A 3% compensation increase for the 2024-25 school year was approved by the school board in May—which cost the district $5.64 million.
When creating the district’s budget for the year, a baseline is created with no pay increase, Harbeson said. District officials then determine what funds are available in order to recommend a salary increase to the school board.
Prioritizing competitive pay is difficult as 80% to 85% of the district’s budget is composed of staff pay, Harbeson said. The district must also review program offerings to ensure the district is operating efficiently, she said. To address the budget shortfall and pay for teacher raises, $21.79 million will be reallocated from the district’s reserve fund balance, which is similar to a savings account. The district will have $73.96 million remaining in its fund balance at the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year.
McKinney ISD competes with a mixture of surrounding school districts and private industries when hiring and retaining employees, Jackson said.
The district has had teachers leave MISD to join a district that is giving a stipend or similar financial incentive. A number of teachers will return to the district because the stipend was discontinued or the support provided by the district is not as vast as MISD’s, she said.
“Offering a competitive salary is important because our educators need to feel appreciated and valued for the crucial roles they play in educating our students,” Jackson said in an email.
Showing appreciation is another way MISD is working to retain its staff. The district will conduct “Stay Interviews” with randomly selected employees to acknowledge their work. MISD employees also have access to an Employee Assistance Program, which provides services to counseling, life coaches and more for no cost to district staff, Jackson said.
The district also provides teachers with a list of businesses who provide discounts to MISD employees.
“These are only some of the ways we show our employees how much we appreciate them and want them in MISD doing the important work for all of our students,” Jackson said.
“MISD does the best job it can in prioritizing teacher pay given current state funding formulas," said Marlene Harbeson, McKinney ISD chief financial officer.
“In public education, we recognize the limitations of funding, but we continue to make a commitment to our educators by staying a top competitive district," said Darla Jackson, McKinney ISD director of human resources.
Did you know?
Hiring former students and substitute teachers is one avenue MISD is taking to staff its schools.
In 2023, MISD hired 64 substitutes as full-time teachers and 47 former students as teachers. The district hires more substitute teachers than it does from any university or alternative certification program, said Shelly Spaulding, MISD’s assistant superintendent of public relations and communications.
“Substitute teachers are our best resource for new teachers,” she said in an email.
Former students and substitutes are familiar with MISD and have a connection with the district, Spaulding said, making them ideal candidates for teaching roles. They also have supports in the district, such as family and friends that they can rely on outside of the school day, she said.
"Former students know our traditions and have pride in the district in which they grew up,” Spaulding said.
McKinney ISD is creating a new program to hire former students as soon as two years after graduation.
The Grow Your Own Program will allow students who graduate from the district with an associate’s degree to work at MISD as a paraprofessional while earning their undergraduate degree. The district will then hire them as teachers after subsidizing their degree and alternative certification program, Spaulding said.
This program is currently in its planning stages and still requires approval from district officials.
In the meantime, the district is working with paraprofessionals to earn their bachelor’s degree and provide them with an alternative certification program to get certified, Spaulding said.
