Most teachers in East Baton Rouge Parish public schools will get a raise if the school board approves Superintendent LaMont Cole’s proposed budget.
The board and public weighed in on the proposal at a committee meeting on Thursday night, and the board gave its preliminary approval. A final vote is scheduled for June 11.
The proposal takes the starting pay for a new teacher in East Baton Rouge up to $56,000 from $50,000. Cole said the goal is to make pay more competitive in the region.
“When we recruit good people, we are able to retain those individuals when they come to our school system,” Cole said.
The budget also completely reworks and simplifies the district’s pay schedule. These raises go beyond teachers and include all staff, save for one salary scale for administrative staff who are on the higher end of the salary band.
Under the proposal, the more experience a teacher has, the greater their raise. Teachers can now get an increase of about $550 after completing a school year with the district. Previously, teachers could get an increase of $225 after every year.
This new system means a new teacher could be moved up to $56,560 after their first year, whereas previously they would only sit at $50,225. By their 5th year, their salary will be $58,857.
Some teachers who are currently at a higher salary than the new cap of $79,330 — reached at step 35 — won’t have their salary touched, officials said.
Bus drivers, who are salaried employees, will also get a raise under the new proposal. Officials listed their hourly rate as $20.50 per hour in their budget, and included a reduction in hours worked from 6 to 8.
With their 180-day work year, the lowest salary for a bus driver will sit at about $22,140 — about $1,260 higher than the current budget.
Drivers can also pick up additional routes for extra money, and if they work more than their contracted 6 hours, they will be compensated at their hourly rate for that time.
Harold Greer, a representative from Local 3030 with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents the district’s bus drivers, said a lot of his members don’t think the proposed raise is enough.
“With the economy being the way it is, they still are going to have to work two or three jobs,” Greer said.
Some drivers also thought the budget would cut their pay, because drivers would work fewer hours under the proposal. Cole said the district will be putting out information to help explain the changes to them.
How will they pay for the raises?
The district’s revenue is expected to decrease by about $10 million, in part because of a potential drop in state funding.
Cole is proposing the district spend $18.8 million from its fund balance to afford the raises in this budget.
The plan to pay for raises in the future is to spend down the district’s fund balance this year to $90 million. The idea is that the district will find efficiencies or places to cut down in the coming years to eventually not require spending against reserves.
At a press conference last week, Gov. Jeff Landry criticized districts for sitting on high fund balances, arguing that districts could afford to give their teachers raises rather than sitting on the reserves.
This came along with his proposal to cut state education funding to pay for stipends for teachers, as well as after EBR Schools announced its plans for raises.
Cole said he completely agrees with the governor.
“It is just ironic that the governor would announce a week and a half [after EBR put out the budget proposal], it was incumbent upon all school systems to think about how to use their reserves in order to provide a sustainable and permanent raise for their employees,” Cole said. “We jumped out in front, we feel like we’re a leader in this work.”
Landry’s proposal still requires approval from three-fourths of the legislature, who will vote by mail. The EBR school board has to give its final approval for the budget on June 11th.