Bay City ISD trustees approve 2% raise for support and administrative staff amid $6.2M deficit

Bay City Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 5–1 to approve a 2% compensation increase for support staff and administrative support, trustees said at a regularly scheduled meeting (date not specified).

The action, moved at the meeting by Trustee 1 and seconded by a second speaker, passed with five votes in favor and one opposed, board members said during roll call. The board also discussed and moved forward on classroom 012 and librarian compensation earlier in the meeting; the transcript records a motion to approve that item but does not record a vote tally for it.

The issue mattered for board members because the district is operating with a multimillion-dollar deficit and the raise will increase that shortfall. “If we do a 1% to all staff … it's increasing our deficit by 143,956,” said Staff member (Speaker 1), summarizing the budget office’s estimate of the one-percent scenario after removing federally funded positions and food-service staff from the calculation. Trustee 3 warned about the optics of larger increases: “based on the deficit I would be concerned about the optics of something like 3%,” the trustee said.

Board members and staff explained which employee groups were excluded from the district-wide calculation. Staff member (Speaker 1) said the district pulled food-service positions and some federally funded roles out of the general-pay calculation because those positions “can be funded out of a different bucket.” The district’s staff also described the state’s teacher retention allotment as a pass-through that would not be altered by the board’s action on support and administrative staff; trustees clarified that the state pass‑through for teachers (commonly described at the meeting as $4,000 to $8,000 depending on eligibility) is separate from the local compensation decision.

Several trustees pushed back on the size of the increase because of the district’s fiscal position. Trustee 6, who spoke at length about the district’s long-running deficit, said trustees must consider cutting programs or finding other savings rather than repeatedly adding to the deficit: “If we continue to add to our deficit … we have to be mindful,” the trustee said. Board discussion referenced a current general-fund shortfall of “about $6.2 million,” staff said during the meeting.

Trustees and staff also discussed how raises would be applied: the board was told the percentage raise is applied relative to an employee’s salary midpoint and therefore will not result in an identical dollar increase for every person. “It’s not a true 1% to every staff member,” Staff member (Speaker 1) said, describing midpoint-based calculations that can cause variation in individual increases.

The board discussed an efficiency audit as part of the longer-term plan to address the deficit. Staff described a required efficiency audit tied to the timeline for a future voter approval tax-rate election, telling trustees the district should select an auditor by July to complete work prior to a November election cycle and publish findings publicly. “The efficiency audit will illuminate salaries in areas where there may need to be cuts,” a Staff member (Speaker 8) said, describing the audit’s likely focus on personnel costs.

After the compensation vote, the board approved its consent agenda (motion passed 6–0) and moved to adjourn.

What the board approved

- Support staff and administrative support compensation at 2% for the year (motion passed 5–1). The district’s finance staff said the 2% option increases the projected deficit relative to the baseline; the meeting transcript records a 5–1 vote but does not list individual roll-call votes by name. - Classroom 012 and librarian compensation: a motion to approve was made during the meeting; the transcript records the motion but does not include a clear roll-call tally for that item. - Consent agenda: motion passed 6–0.

Why it matters

The board’s decision raises base pay for non-teacher staff but increases a general-fund deficit trustees repeatedly described as “in the $6 million range.” Trustees framed the vote as balancing short-term retention pressures against longer-term fiscal stability; staff and trustees said an efficiency audit and further budget review are planned to identify offsets and potential program reductions.

What remains unresolved

The transcript does not record a precise, itemized tally by named trustee for each compensation motion. Staff said some positions were removed from the district-wide calculation because they are funded by federal programs or a separate food-service fund; the meeting record shows the district expects variation in how midpoint-based increases will affect individual employees.