Most Henry County Public Schools staff could see pay increases in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, if the budget plan is approved by county supervisors.
At a school board meeting Thursday evening, Superintendent Amy Blake-Lewis mentioned staff pay as one of the top budget priorities.
“We’re investing in staff to better their performance,” Blake-Lewis said.
Suggestions from last year’s Evergreen Salary Study, a study that called for salary raises across multiple Henry County departments, dictated the pay increase suggestions.
The current 28-step teacher pay scale is expected to undergo the most significant changes. Teachers, counselors, media specialists, reading specialists, instructional coaches and instruction technology resource officers are all included in the teacher pay scale.
Officials hope to increase the teacher pay scale to 30 steps while adding a 5% increase to each step. This change was first suggested in the Evergreen Salary Study.
Under the updated scale, starting teacher pay would increase to $50,103 from $48,269. The scale would top out at $71,316.
Benjamin Boone, the assistant superintendent for operations, explained that some teachers are paid more than what is offered on the 30-step scale. For those teachers, who are considered “off-scale,” the proposed plan calls for a $2,500 stipend, which is less than the 5% increase of lower steps.
School board member Stephanie Brinegar said she felt this was unfair.
Blake-Lewis pushed back.
“These are fiscal recommendations based on the Evergreen study,” Blake-Lewis said. “It is typical and best practice to have a scale representing 30 years, which is considered a full career. This enables us to maximize the funding down the scale so we can continue to recruit and retain those teachers … while still recognizing the value of those who have maxed out the scale. Rather than stopping them at a max-out, we are still offering them a stipend.”
Blake-Lewis said a stipend equaling 5% would put too much strain on the budget.
Other pay scales, like the one determining compensation for bookkeepers and bus mechanics, could increase 7.5%, while the administrative scale could increase 5%.
Officials also plan to suggest a 5% pay increase for bus drivers.
In total, the pay increases are projected to add $2.1 million to a total budget of $109.4 million.
Teachers and staff have received pay increases each year since the 2021-2022 fiscal year, with the highest at 6% last year.
The board unanimously approved the suggested pay increases on Thursday, with Blake-Lewis and board members describing the proposed changes as generous and a departure from just a few years ago.
“I’d like to draw your [attention] to the 2010-2021 years, when you’ll notice there were no step increases or minimal increases for salaries across the board,” Blake-Lewis said, later adding that pay increases will go a long way toward the school system’s retention and recruitment efforts.
“We need to do all we can to bolster our recruitment efforts so that when these folks choose to retire we can replace them with other teachers coming up out of college,” Blake-Lewis said. “We have to be strong with our competitive salary and competitive benefits to make sure that happens.”
The school board’s proposed budget must be approved by the Henry County Board of Supervisors, which is scheduled to vote on the county budget on April 23.