The Pflugerville ISD board of trustees approved an across-the-board employee pay increase April 24, upping wages in the district to, or above, 90 percent of the fair-market pay rate.
Dozens of educators at the meeting cheered the board's approval of the pay bump, but officials acknowledged budget challenges still remain.
PISD Superintendent Alex Torrez said the district sits in the bottom quarter of Texas school districts in terms of state assistance.
The district had room in its budget to accommodate the wage bump, which will cost $4.6 million, said PISD Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Adix.
August Plock, a Pflugerville High School teacher and president of the Pflugerville Educator's Association, applauded the pay increase.
However, Plock said, it seems like PISD is always playing catch-up with neighboring districts.
"Yes, we got a 3 percent raise that brings us up to right now. But, if Round Rock gets another 3 percent raise this year, well, we are now 3 percent or 4 percent behind again," Plock said. "It's causing teacher morale issues. It's causing teachers to leave to go to another school districts that pay more."
Before the Thursday pay-raise approval, Torrez corrected inequities in PISD wages that had some veteran employees earning less than newcomers, Plock said.
