Graham ISD trustees approve staff raises

The Graham ISD Board of Trustees last Wednesday approved adjustments to the district hiring schedule and staff midpoint raises of 3%. On top of these changes were approvals for staff stipends and several other programs as part of the district Recruiting and Retention Plan.

In January, the Board of Trustees requested a plan to help retain staff, with an emphasis on teaching staff within the district. GISD Superintendent Sonny Cruse established a committee which consisted of one teacher with 1-3 years of experience, one teacher with 5-10 years of experience, one teacher with 15-plus years of experience, one elementary school principal, one secondary school principal, two board members, the city of Graham Mayor, the Graham Economic Development Director, the assistant superintendent for Human Resources and the assistant superintendent for finance in the district.

The purpose of the group was to gather information and ideas to improve the ability of the district to recruit and retain staff at GISD and within the city. During the meeting Wednesday, May 11, the board approved a salary increase of $500,000 as a part of the plan. GISD Assistant Superintendent, Finance Director Don Davis spoke to the board about the salary increases last week.

“We want to increase the minimum teaching salary from ($40,800 to $42,000). We want to add five years to that. And that will make the 25th year ($62,000 in salary). So that puts us ($42,000 to $62,000). That’ll be the range. And increasing to 25 years. We are recommending to give teachers (a raise of) 3% from midpoint, which will be $1,423 for each teacher. That’s an estimated cost of $185,000,” Davis said. “In addition to that, we will be making adjustments, where needed, to get a teacher to that new hiring schedule, based on their years of experience. So that could range from zero to $3,000 in addition to the $1,400. (...) most of that bigger raise came from our teachers that were at 20 to 25 years (teaching). That’s where most of that money is going. So for all other employees, that 3% midpoint (raise) is estimated at $170,000. So estimated cost (...) is $500,000. That includes the benefits that are included to increase those raises.”

For the full story, see the Wednesday, May 18 edition of The Graham Leader.