At a May 5 special board meeting, LCISD trustees approved the $2,000 flat rate teacher salary increases, along with additional raises for instructional aides to match peer districts.
Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said the proposed fiscal year 2025-26 budget assumes no new state revenue, as lawmakers haven’t yet approved an increase to the basic student allotment ahead of the 89th Texas Legislature’s June 2 end.
“If the Legislature does something different at the end of this session, then those numbers will reflect [that] later,” Nivens said. “What you're seeing now is under the current law.”
At a glance
District leaders have cut almost $1.72 million in expenditures from the FY 2025-26 budget proposal since mid-April. No changes were made to the revenue estimates, therefore reducing the shortfall from $5 million to $3.3 million, Chief Financial Officer Jill Ludwig said.
Budget managers made reductions in non-salary categories, such as contracted services and supplies, to cull the shortfall, Chief Communications Officer Sonya Cole-Hamilton said in an email.
All raises discussed were already included in the April 16 budgetary estimates, Cole-Hamilton said.
What’s changing?
Trustees approved raises for the teacher pay grade, which includes counselors, diagnosticians, instructional coaches, librarians, nurses and other positions, Ludwig said.
According to district documents, the raises for this group included:
- Upping the starting teacher salary to $65,700 from $64,100 in the 2024-25 school year
- A flat $2,000 raise for existing teachers
Additionally, Ludwig said self-contained classroom substitutes will have:
- 10 paid training days and five observational days
- A raise of $35 more per day
- Four wellness days, which is an increase from two in the 2024-25 school year
Meanwhile, LCISD’s previous starting salary was among the higher end of neighboring districts in the 2024-25 school year, according to the posted starting salaries.
Board President Zach Lambert said LCISD’s financial plan will be updated if the Legislature changes funding or mandates raises. He previously voiced support for House Bill 2, which passed the House on April 16 and boosts the per student basic allotment, which is $6,160, by $395 and provides funds for raises and special education.
“The increase of basic allotment could result in an increase in those [raises], given ... a percentage or anything the state legislators say that needs to be applied,” Lambert said.
Moving forward, district officials will continue to make cost-saving decisions before presenting the FY 2025-26 budget in June, Nivens said.
“We've been saying for years, the deficit is coming our way,” Nivens said. “It hadn't hit us yet, but it's here, so we have to work through that.”
Ludwig said the district’s Budget Committee will continue to evaluate the following before the June budget approval:
- Adjustments to other substitute pay
- Additional revenue generation options, such as changes to facility rental policies
- Further expenditure cuts, including possible savings from revisiting 10-month versus 12-month work periods
