Salaries

At PISD we have 24 certified teachers on staff that are responsible for educating 215 students in grades Pre-K through 12^th grade.  Our school district has allocated $1,353,953 for the salaries of these teachers.  That accounts for 57% of our $2,382,981 budget for the 2012-2013 school year.  In visiting with our superintendent, we looked at a coupe of different scenarios that could effectively result in a pay raise for these certified staff members.

First, we looked at a 5% increase across the board.  That would result in an increase in the budget of $68000 for this school year.  That raise would average out to a little over $2800 which would effectively increase the gross pay of the individual a little over $200.  Option 2 would be to pay all of the insurance of these staff members.  This would be a more costly alternative for the district in the long term.  With the mid-level insurance, it would require the same $200 monthly increase PLUS the commitment to do the same thing every time insurance companies increase the premiums which seems to be every year.

Ultimately the $200 raise due to the 5% increase would not be seen in the check of the staff member but it would prevent a lower take home pay for the teacher when compared to the year before and factoring in the increase in the premiums.  This would only be a temporary fix as the insurance premiums are likely to increase the following year.  A raise is always a welcomed announcement but it can come at a cost.  We are one of many districts that have adopted a deficit budget.  While we are hopeful that we will not actually see this come to fruition, we try to ere on the side of being prepared for it and try to be cautious in spending to prevent it.  An increase in teacher pay would not be a good thing to hear in the community where most people are low income – near poverty levels – or unemployed.  A fine line must be walked in order to present the information in a manner that shows the need for this increase when in the community are going to be experiencing the opposite financial situation.