Fort Bend ISD teachers will be making more money next school year after the FBISD board of trustees voted last week to increase educator pay rates. For the 2017-18 school year, the starting salary rate for teachers in the district will be $53,000 per year, a $2,500 increase from the current starting pay of $50,500 per year. As part of moving to the new salary schedule all teachers will receive a salary bump of at least $2,500, FBISD Chief Financial Officer Steve Bassett said. Teachers with over 25 years' experience do not receive any yearly step increase, according to the salary schedule. The board of trustees can vote to give raises to teachers in addition to the step increases called for in the salary schedule, Bassett said. According to documents supplied by FBISD, the district’s starting teacher salaries for 2016-17 are lower than 10 other school districts in the Houston area. Of the other districts surveyed, Alief ISD, located north of Fort Bend, had the highest starting salaries for teachers at $52,800 per year. “We think this is going to put us very close to the top of what other districts pay,” Bassett said. “A lot will depend on what other districts do [in terms of increasing their own pay rates].” FBISD teachers who hold master’s degrees or doctoral degrees will receive yearly stipends of $1,100 and $2,200 respectively, the same stipends called for in the 2016-17 salary schedule. The FBISD board also voted last week to increase the salaries of principals, who will see their pay increase by 6.6 percent annually, Bassett said. The annual total cost for the teacher and principal pay increases amounts to just under $14.7 million, Bassett said. Trustees will consider increasing salaries for nonteaching staff in the coming months, according to FBISD documents.