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Fort Bend ISD board of trustees approved the fiscal year 2026-27 employee compensation plan at a June 15 meeting, alongside the approval of the district’s budget, which shows a $32.8 million expected shortfall.
The details
Deputy Superintendent of Operations Kathleen Brown said the plan has several initiatives aimed at better retaining and attracting staff.
1. Differentiated teacher steps
The differentiated teacher steps is a pay structure that benefits teachers based on their years of experience and maintains competitive salaries the longer educators stay with the district, officials said in a June 16 news release.
Though FBISD’s starting teacher salary falls behind other neighboring districts, Brown previously said the district meets the market at the five-year threshold and exceeds it after 15 years.
Under the new plan, once teachers begin working for the district after 10 years, the pay range from year to year will continue to increase.
2. Teacher retention allotment
Under the teacher retention allotment, school systems with more than 5,000 enrolled students will receive $2,500 from the state for each teacher with at least three years and less than five years of experience, according to the Texas Education Agency’s website. The district also receives $5,000 for each teacher who has five or more years of experience.
3. Staff retention allotment
Under the staff retention allotment, the state will provide a school district $45 for each student in adjusted average attendance to go toward increasing salaries for non-administrative staff, per the TEA’s website.
This includes teachers who are ineligible to receive the TRA, school counselors, librarians, school nurses, teacher’s assistants, custodial staff, food services staff, bus drivers, administrative assistants and other support staff.
4. Thank you supplement
For staff who do not qualify for the teacher retention allotment, Fort Bend ISD is giving a one-time thank you supplement to anyone who works full-time or part-time as of Oct. 1 and through Nov. 13, per agenda documents. Substitutes and temporary employees are not eligible.
The supplements range from $500-$2,000 and have an expected general fund cost of $6.1 million, according to agenda documents. The supplements will be paid by wherever the employee’s base salary comes from if it is not the general fund.
5. Bus driver and monitor pay increases
The district is also increasing current and future bus drivers’ starting pay to $24, raising bus monitor pay to $15.10 and offering a $2,000 sign-on bonus for new bus drivers hired by Dec.17, per agenda documents.
The bus driver and monitor pay increases will cost $1.7 million out of the general fund, Community Impact previously reported.
What they’re saying
Superintendent Marc Smith said the new compensation plan is important to give back to district employees while staying steadfast with Fort Bend residents.
"Fort Bend ISD's employees are the foundation of our success, and this budget reflects our commitment to investing in the people who serve our students and families every day," Smith said. "At the same time, we remain focused on being responsible stewards of taxpayer resources."
