Teachers and support staff in the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District will see pay raises in the upcoming 2023-24 school year.
The district's School Board voted unanimously Monday for Superintendent Jeremy Owoh's recommendation that the base salary for teachers increase by 2.5%, with salaries for more veteran teachers increasing as well.
The board approved the increases at a meeting in which it approved the 2023-24 school year calendar and received reports on construction of an addition to Jacksonville Middle School and replacement schools for Bayou Meto and Murrell Taylor elementaries.
Pay for the district's support staff will increase by $2 an hour, effective July 1, as a result of the board vote.
"This is one of the things I'm definitely happy to do," Owoh told the board members about the increases that will cost the district an additional $1.2 million.
About $710,731 of that cost, however, will be offset by the revenue to the district from the state's Teacher Salary Equalization Fund.
The state Teacher Salary Equalization Fund was approved by state lawmakers in early 2021. The fund is intended to be used to narrow the gap between the average teacher salaries paid by school systems statewide.
The salary of a beginning Jacksonville teacher with a bachelor's degree will be $42,107, up from the current starting salary of $41,080.
A teacher with a master's degree and 10 years of experience will be $50,918 -- up from $49,816 -- and a teacher who has a master's degree plus 30 additional credits and hits 28 years of experience with earn $62,494 in the coming school year. That salary is currently $61,360.
In regard to the school year calendar, classes will start for students on Aug. 21 and end May 29, 2024. The winter or Christmas break will be Dec. 22 through Jan. 5, 2024, for students.
The School Board received a brief report on the Jacksonville Middle School expansion that is on schedule to be completed in June. The district is in the early stages of replacement buildings for Murrell Taylor that is to be completed in June 2024 at an estimated cost of $23 million and for Bayou Meto, also to be completed in June 2024, at an estimated cost of $24 million.