Teachers in the Shawnee Mission School District are getting one of their biggest pay raises in recent years.
It’s part of the latest contract between the district and teachers’ union, which was ratified by the Shawnee Mission school board at its meeting Monday, June 12.
It’s also a continuation of efforts by the district to boost pay for positions across the district to deal with persistent staffing challenges that have bedeviled schools in recent years.
Teacher compensation up nearly 7%
The compensation increases approved by the board last week include:
- A 6.75% increase in overall compensation for certified classroom teachers, including a 4.63% boost in base salary. This means first-year teachers with no experience will now begin at $47,448.
- A 5.57% overall increase in compensation for principals, including a 4.5% increase in base pay. They will also be provided a term life insurance policy with a $50,00 death benefit.
- A 6.5% increase in overall compensation for high school counselors.
- A 6.59% increase in total compensation for both part- and full-time parent educators. People in these positions conduct personal home visits, organize social activities, lead playgroups and parenting classes and help with various health-related and developmental screenings, for all pre-K children. Last year, there were seven parent educators in the district.
‘A larger increase’ than most years
Jill Johnson, president of NEA-Shawnee Mission, said the district and union began negotiations back in January.
The veteran high school math teacher now in her 17th year of teaching, said she was pleased with the final compensation numbers for teachers.
“This is a larger increase than in many years,” Johnson said.
The new compensation will come on top of $1,000 retention bonuses given to staff who stay on for next school year, which starts in August.
Those bonuses are up from $700 last year, and $600 the year before that and are funded with federal pandemic relief dollars.
“Overall, we have great competitive packages for our staff this year,” Superintendent Michelle Hubbard said last week.
The raises for teachers and administrators come as the district has also boosted pay for classified staff — custodians, lunch room workers and classroom aides.
These hourly employees will see pay bumps of at least 2% next year, with some getting increases of up to 11%, depending on their position and experience.
Hubbard said the moves to increase pay in the district would help make Shawnee Mission more competitive with neighboring districts, as well as within the greater Kansas City area.
“Hopefully, it makes us more competitive,” said board president Mary Sinclair, echoing Hubbard’s sentiments.
SMSD pay compares favorably to other districts
Data from the National Education Association’s 2022 Rankings and Estimate Report shows Kansas teachers earn an average salary of $53,619, based on the 2020-2021 school year.
That ranks Kansas teacher salaries 37th in the nation.
The national average for teachers in the U.S. was $65,293, according to the report. The average starting salary for a Kansas teacher is $39,100.
Salary information from Shawnee Mission School District’s website shows teachers here, on average, earn $70,596, more than their counterparts in Olathe ($69,876) and Blue Valley ($64,344).
That data, compiled by the Kansas State Department of Education, is based on the 2019-2020 school year, the last year before the pandemic.
But Shawnee Mission administrators were paid on average less than their peers in some of those same districts.
The average administrator salary for Blue Valley was $140,584, while Shawnee Mission administrators earned an average salary of $121,212. Olathe administrators collected an average salary or $124,013.
Secondary teachers still get paid more for sixth period
In addition to increases in base pay, Shawnee Mission will continue compensating middle and high school teachers who agree to teach an extra sixth period each semester.
Full-time secondary general education teachers who, in response to the district’s request, agree to teach six periods during will earn an additional 10%, amounting to an extra $5,675 for the year if they teach six periods both semesters.
Johnson, the NEA-Shawnee Mission president, said both sides are still looking to find a similar solution for elementary teachers.
“Last year was the first year of this stipend for secondary teachers,” Johnson said. “We’d like to have this as permanent language. We’re exploring options on what to do for elementary teachers in the same situation, and feel like we can come up with something good.”
The motion also contained a clause to ensure that the district’s special education teachers would continue to receive four paperwork days, as part of efforts to address workload and balance it with staffing shortages in special education.
Ben McCarthy is a contributor to the Post and other publications in the Kansas City area. He can be reached at ben.c.mccarthy@gmail.com with questions, comments and story suggestions.
