Snyder ISD is proposing to give most of its teachers four-figure salary raises.
During Thursday’s Snyder ISD school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Eddie Bland and Chief Financial Officer Morgan Preston unveiled the district’s plan to give more than $500,000 in raises to teachers, counselors, librarians and nurses effective with the new school year that begins Sept. 1.
The pay raises were mandated by the Texas Legislature, which called for school districts to earmark at least 30 percent of increased state aid to salary increases. Of that 30 percent, 75 percent must go to classroom teachers and full-time librarians, counselors and nurses. The remainder will go to all other district employees except administrators.
The state also directed school districts to prioritize those raises for classroom teachers with more than five years of experience, and that’s reflected in Snyder’s proposed salary schedule.
Starting with their sixth year in teaching, instructors will receive a salary increase of $3,181 and that figure increases to $4,410 for those starting their 11th year of teaching.
Under the proposed schedule, all teachers will receive an annual raise of at least $1,500, except those in their first or second year in the classroom. New teachers will receive a pay raise of $542, while second-year teachers will earn a raise of $708.
The pay raises specifically target teachers with more than five years of experience. Teachers with less than five years experience will receive an average raise of $1,094, while those with more than five years experience will receive an average raise of $3,189, Preston said.
These pay raises do not reflect stipends that will be paid to teachers in high-need areas, such as math, science and English/language arts and reading, or for those teaching subjects tested under the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) state exams, Preston said.
Other district employees, except administrators, will receive an average pay increase of $1,431, Preston said. In total, Snyder ISD employees will receive more than $750,000 in salary raises this school year.
Bland, who expressed some concerns on how the raises would be paid for when the legislature announced them earlier this year, said most of those concerns have been addressed.
“For the most part, (my concerns) have been eliminated,” Bland said. “The only issue I have now is with sustainability. The state is giving us the funds to give these pay raises and my only concern is whether future legislatures are going to give us the necessary funds.”
Trustees will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday to formally approve the new salary schedule.
In other business, the school board approved a resolution to declare the old North Elementary School campus surplus property, which will allow Bland to solicit bids for its sale. Trustees also approved expenditures of approximately $300,000, half to sealcoat Snyder Primary School’s parking lot and half to purchase new furniture for Snyder Junior High School.
They also approved the purchase of up to $35,000 in equipment for the district’s automotive technology program, as well as $18,600 for the Mentoring Minds computer software for various district classrooms.
Also, they approved a new English/language arts and reading curriculum for fourth through eighth grades.
Trustees also conducted an hour-long closed session to discuss personnel matters, but took no action.
New teacher hires announced Thursday included Connie Chisum, Jessica Lima, Brandy Martin, Jori McClellan, Breana Park, Jacob Perez, Taylor Snodgrass, Hilda Vera, Clifford Williams, Liliana Juarez, Jana DeLoach and Christian Cruz.
Resignations and retirements announced Thursday include teacher/coaches Ashley Parker and Armando Martinez and teacher Patricia Allen.
Snyder ISD has 10 open teaching positions as of June 22, officials said.
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