Educator and staff pay in USD 232 (De Soto) is on track to get an average bump of about 6% this coming school year.
Earlier this month, the school board voted 6-0 to authorize the pay rate increases across the board.
The raises average to about 6.3% this year, but an employee’s actual percent raise may be greater or lower than that, depending on where that employee sits on the pay schedule.
USD 232 starting teacher pay goes up $2,500
- That makes the new base pay for teachers $47,000 on the district’s 30-step salary schedule.
- Combined with increases to benefits and coaching or supplemental position pay, the school district will pay educators about $2.5 million more this coming school year.
- Some extra dollars were also trickled into other parts of the salary timeline for USD 232 teachers, specifically those in the middle of their careers.
- Assistant superintendent Alvie Cater said the extra funding “addresses some of the gaps” that existed previously.
- In 2021, USD 232 offered teachers an average salary increase of 2.5%, Cater told the Post in an email. And last year, USD 232 approved an average teacher pay raise of 3.4%.
USD 232 will also offer a $600 retention stipend
- Those bonuses will be paid out in November of this year to all educators.
- New employees will get a prorated amount, meaning they will be eligible to receive a portion of the stipend.
- The district also nearly doubled its annual tuition reimbursement stipend — bringing it up to $500 — for employees continuing their education.
Classified staff, administration also get 2023-2024 raises
- Classified staff in USD 232, such as paras and nutrition workers, are also on track to get a roughly 6% average raise in the coming school year.
- All starting pay rates in this area are also getting a 5% bump to keep these positions’ compensation “competitive,” Carrie Handy, director of human resources for elementary personnel, said last week.
- In all, the district anticipates spending $830,000 more on classified staff salaries this school year.
- Administration salaries will see a 6% raise as well, at a cost of nearly $300,000.
School board members applauded the raises
Multiple school board members expressed their satisfaction with the process and applauded the increases to USD 232 employee pay across the board.
“[We] have the very best teachers and staff in the entire state,” school board president Ashley Spaulding said. “You are more than deserving of the compensation that you’ve been offered.”
School board member Danielle Heikes echoed this, thanking everyone who participated in the negotiation process and calling the end-result a “phenomenal package.”
“Really, we thank you for putting that work in and really devising a package that meets the needs of both the school district and the teachers that work here,” she said. Heikes was particularly pleased with the tuition reimbursement increase.
Board member Calley Malloy was absent.
More USD 232 news: Here’s what’s in new USD 232 superintendent’s contract
