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Katy ISD board approves 2025–26 compensation plan: teacher pay increases and 3% for other employees
Summary
The board voted 6–1 on June 23 to adopt the district’s compensation plan for 2025–26: targeted increases to classroom teachers funded by the state allotment and a 3% midpoint increase for other employees. Trustees debated whether to include a previously offered benchmark lump-sum retention payment.
The Katy Independent School District Board of Trustees approved the district’s 2025–26 compensation plan on June 23, voting 6–1 to adopt a package that increases classroom teacher pay in tiers and raises compensation for other district employees by 3%.
What the board approved: under the motion that passed, first- and second‑year classroom teachers will receive a $2,500 stipend; third‑ and fourth‑year classroom teachers will receive a $2,500 increase funded through the House Bill 2 teacher retention allotment (TRA); and fifth‑year and beyond classroom teachers will receive a $5,000 increase through the TRA. All other employees will receive a 3% increase measured from the midpoint of their pay grade.
Why it matters: the action implements state-directed and district-funded measures intended to strengthen recruitment and retention as districts across Texas face staffing shortages. Trustees described the plan as a mix of state-directed funding (the TRA allocations) and local compensation strategy intended to maintain competitiveness.
Board debate and a failed amendment: the vote followed an extended public and trustee discussion about an additional “benchmark years of service” lump-sum payment (a multi‑tier bonus for teachers at five‑year milestones) that had been paid last year. Several trustees and public commenters urged the board to continue the lump-sum retention payments; other trustees said such selective one‑time payments create workplace tension and preferred a broad-based pay increase. A motion to include the benchmark lump-sum payments in this year’s plan (and to defer athletic stipend adjustments for later discussion) failed; the final motion that passed implemented the tiered teacher increases and the 3% for non‑classroom staff.
Quoted comments and context: Trustee Mary Ellen Kazzella, advocating to keep the milestone lump-sum payments, said the benchmark payments are “in addition to salary increases that teachers receive” and expressed concern about denying experienced teachers a planned payment. Trustee Rebecca Fox said she opposed selective lump sums on fairness grounds and cautioned that special payments can create “hard feelings” among staff. Trustees also discussed using funds to address support staff pay and the district’s overall budget posture.
Vote: the compensation plan motion passed 6–1. No changes to the district’s salary schedule were adopted outside the items described above at this meeting.
