North Little Rock School District board members and staff members Tuesday night weighed options for increasing employee pay this year and into the future, while also taking into account budget constraints tied to ongoing school construction projects.
Board members, who met in North Little Rock High School's recently opened cafeteria that overlooks the school's new football stadium, made no immediate decisions on how to proceed, but they could do so as soon as Thursday when they meet for their regular monthly meeting.
The options include an across-the-board raise for employees that would become a recurring, annual expense, or a bonus for this school year accompanied by a plan to restructure most employee salary schedules for the long-term. The redesign of the schedules would be done to make district salaries, including the current starting teacher salary of $34,510, more competitive with other central Arkansas school systems.
The district's Licensed Personnel Policies Committee earlier this year proposed a 3 percent across-the-board pay raise for the current year that, if applied to all of the 1,300 licensed and support staff members, would cost $1.8 million, Superintendent Kelly Rodgers said Tuesday night.
A one-time $850 bonus to all employees would cost about $1.47 million, while a $1,000 bonus to licensed staff members and $900 bonus to most classified staff members would cost almost $2 million. A $2,000 bonus to licensed staff members and $1,000 to most classified staff members would total just under $2.5 million, again a one-time cost that the district wouldn't be obligated to pay in future years.
Money for the raises or bonuses, or even a combination of the two, would come from $2,175,685 in uncommitted but nonrecurring financial reserves, Rodgers said.
While the district can afford salary adjustments now, the expenses become more difficult after the 2017-18 school year when the longtime state payments of $7.6 million a year in desegregation aid come to an end at the same time the district must continue paying for its more than $250 million capital improvement program. That building program has resulted in the rebuilding or renovation of 11 schools, with the middle school still to be done.
The district would have to find new revenue sources in future years, Rodgers said. That could be done in part with increased student enrollment, which generates state funding to the district; improved tax collection rates; and charges to organizations for use of the district gymnasiums, arena, stadium and auditoriums.
Board members Tuesday were receptive to recommendations from Karli Saracini, the district's executive director of human resources, for restructuring employee salary schedules as a way to increase salaries, and attract and keep employees. That could include reducing from $1,025 to $752 the annual step increase that teachers receive for each year of experience, she said.
Salary schedule adjustments also are needed to more fairly compensate district administrators -- including directors, principals and assistant principals -- for their years of experience and education levels. In other cases, new salary schedules will be necessary if the district is to meet and exceed minimum wage requirements for support staff members.
School Board President Luke King noted that this month marks the four-year anniversary of voters approving a 7.6-mill property tax increase for the school construction projects. The setting for Tuesday's meeting was the result of that earlier work, he said.
"This room is a great example of ... the board stepping back, thinking about a goal, establishing a plan and then going and achieving it," King said. "I think we can do exactly that with the item in front of us, which is taking care of our teachers in this district. I don't think there is any reason we can't get that done. It might take some time, but we can establish that and get it taken care of."
Metro on 02/17/2016