Board of Education prepares pay raises for teachers, staff
By Charles Christian
The St. Joseph Board of Education unanimously set the amount for teacher and staff pay raises on Tuesday, pending the approval of Proposition C in August.
The passage of Prop C in the upcoming election would generate about $7.1 million of income for the district. The board unanimously voted to put about $5.7 million of that money to work right away in the form of a flat raise of $2,750 for district teachers and staff during the first year after the passage of the proposal.
Superintendent Gabe Edgar said this proposal would allow the district to boost the pay of all workers beyond the percentage raises they normally receive.
“The flat raise would actually give the people that are lower on the scale a bigger percentage,” Edgar said.
This raise would also increase the average first-year teacher pay to $42,750 — a boost of $40,000 per year from just a year ago. One board member noted that this would likely move St. Joseph into the top five in starting teacher pay, compared to schools in the immediate area of St. Joseph. Part-time employees would also receive a prorated raise based upon the $2,750 amount.
The other item unanimously passed by the board was the naming of an underwriter for a $20 million bond. The board’s consultants named BOK Financial Securities as the underwriter. BOK was one of eight bidders, and their cost was nearly $100,000 less than the highest bidder.
The official ballot language for Proposition C, which will appear on the August ballot in St. Joseph, was approved by the board in last month’s meeting.
