Duncanville ISD proposes $2,500 starting-teacher raise, outlines 2025–26 budget amid state bill uncertainty

Duncanville Independent School District officials on May 12 proposed a $2,500 increase to the district’s starting teacher salary — bringing it to $61,000 — and presented a draft 2025–26 budget that assumes a conservative 3% assessed-value growth while warning that pending state legislation could change the district’s revenue picture.

Brandy Mayo, Duncanville ISD chief financial officer, told the board the district built the draft budget using a conservative 3% taxable assessed-value growth and that the district’s maintenance-and-operations tax rate would be held to that growth. Mayo said the proposed $2,500 raise would cost the district about $2,189,688 including benefits and would increase starting certified-teacher pay to $61,000; certified bilingual and self-contained special education starting pay would be $65,000 under the proposal. “We would like to bring the teacher salary scale for approval on May 19,” Mayo said.

The presentation emphasized legislative uncertainty as a principal unknown. Mayo outlined the legislative calendar and said the district was…