With three new schools under construction, the Tomball ISD school board has announced plans to increase staff numbers and salaries to keep up with the growth for the 2015-16 academic year. The school board is expected to adopt the proposed $113.3 million budget at its Aug. 11 meeting, which is a 14.79 percent increase over the $98.7 million budget in 2014-15. The district will be hiring 130 additional employees, many of whom will staff the three new schools opening in August—Creekview Elementary School, Oakcrest Intermediate School and Wildwood Elementary School, TISD Chief Financial Officer Jim Ross said during the June 8 school board meeting. During the 2015-16 school year, the starting teacher salary will total $51,250—an increase of $1,250 from the 2014-15 school year.  The new budget also calls for a 3 percent general pay increase for all TISD employees. This year, the district carried out a payroll study in conjunction with the Texas Association of School Boards, Ross said. The results of the 2015 study, which was last conducted during the 2006-07 school year, indicated the district should adjust pay scales to recognize longtime employees, he said. The district raised minimum hourly pay from $8.88 to $10 per hour for the 2014-15 school year, Ross said. In the new budget, the hourly pay increases would affect employees and educators who have been with the district for over 12 years, he said. “When we moved the pay up … suddenly someone who’s only been here for two weeks is making what previously took six years to attain,” Ross said. “So this study moved up the pay to show proper representation.” Ross said he attributes the overall budget increase to the extra resources needed for the new schools and the salary increases. Even with the increase, the TISD tax rate will be lowered from $1.36 to $1.34 for the 2015-16 year, due to increases in debt service payments. “We’re opening three new schools, and that is probably one of the most significant changes to this budget,” Ross said. “Ninety-five percent of the budget increase was driven by payroll. What we’re faced with is the startup costs of the new schools.”