Increases in pay are coming to Navasota ISD staff this Fall.
New salary increases were up for approval during the Monday night Navasota School Board meeting. Newly enacted House Bill 3 says a district must use 30% of its additional revenue coming from the state for salary increases.
NISD is projecting around $2,756,835 in additional revenue for the 2019-2020 school year, thanks to HB3. The 30% the district must use for salary increases equates to about $827,051. Those numbers listed are not official for the district, but it is what NISD is projecting and it is their target number.
75% of that 30 percent goes to Teachers, counselors, certified Librarians and registered nurses. The other 25% goes to other staff.
Superintendent Dr. Stu Musik explained beforehand it is important to note that the percentage increases mentioned are not for individuals themselves, they only relate to the pay scale.
For teachers, certified librarians and registered nurses who have 0-5 years experience, they will see a scale increase of 8%. Those with 6-20 years will see a scale increase around 12% and those 21-25 years will see a 10.5% increase to their scale. There is one exception to the 6-20 years experience category at year 16, as anyone on their 16th year will see a 12.6% increase to their scale.
Counselors, meanwhile, are paid on the administrator scale, which is not included in HB3. However, they will be getting a 12% raise to their pay scale.
As for the other staff, the 25% group was broken into three parts. The auxiliary & support staff receive 10% increases to scale, manual trade staff see a 10% raise to the scale and professional staff will get a 12% raise to the scale.
There is also a group that will be getting a raise that is the administrators of NISD, who have not seen a pay scale adjustment in 10 years. Administrators receive a 10% raise to the scale, and that money comes out of the maintenance and operations budget, not the HB3 money.
In all, the district is projecting to use $1,111,365 used for salary increases for the 75% group(counselors included), $338,000 for the 25% group and a total of $275,462 for the administrators. Combined, the amount comes to $1,724,827, which is more than double the minimum 30% threshold required by the state.
Dr. Musik says that the steps taken by the board on Monday night are monumental.
“I got really, really fired up the night we passed our bond, because that was great for Navasota ISD. That is why I get emotional with something like this. This is historic legislation…and this is historic actions that our board took tonight to reward out folks while we are able to do that, thanks to this legislation,” Musik said.
Starting salary for NISD teachers in the Fall will be $43,632. The board unanimously approved all pay scale increases for Navasota ISD staff.