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Board approves FY2026 salary schedule with 2% raise, added longevity steps and new induction coordinator days
Summary
The Rockcastle County Board approved a salary schedule that includes a 2% across-the-board raise, a new step at 27 years for certified staff, a 25-year step for classified staff, additional days for a teacher-induction coordinator, and continuation of National Board Certified Teacher stipends.
Miss Jenny, a district staff member, presented the FY2026 salary schedule and related employee incentives and programs to the Board of Education and the board approved the schedule by voice vote during the special-called meeting.
The salary schedule includes a 2% raise for all certified and classified employees; Miss Jenny said that increase is part of a multi-year effort that the board has approved and that the district has provided about a 12% total increase over the last five years. The schedule adds a longevity step at 27 years of service for certified staff and a 25-year step for classified staff; the board discussed these adjustments as part of a retention strategy for veteran employees.
The schedule also formalizes several role- and program-level changes: adding 20 days to an existing position to serve as coordinator of new-teacher induction (staff said this is not a new FTE but additional days to be paid on top of a current position), and providing 10 additional days for two teachers assigned as My Rock Online parent liaisons to meet with parents before school starts. Miss Jenny said the additional induction days would replace the district’s prior contract with the Southeast South Central Co op for new-teacher induction and allow the district to perform the work internally.
The board also confirmed continued payment of National Board Certified Teacher stipends even if a teacher later changes assignment, saying the district will continue the stipend to recognize the accomplishment. Miss Jenny indicated there are about seven teachers who currently receive that stipend.
Other adjustments discussed in the meeting included an alignment of elementary assistant days from 30 down to 20 to match middle-school assistant days (the change followed a recent retirement), a small increase in substitute pay from $90 to $95 per day intended to attract more applicants, and new or clarified duties for staff who would support school-level social media/communications with training from Savannah (district staff). Miss Jenny said schools such as Mount Vernon Elementary have been using school-level SBDM allocations to fund successful social-media support and the district would like to scale that model.
A board member asked about qualification requirements for substitute teachers; Miss Jenny said state rules have changed to allow high-school graduates to substitute but the district is monitoring applicants and continuing to prefer a 64-credit-hour threshold to ensure qualified candidates.
Board members moved and seconded the salary-schedule approval and voted in favor. The district will implement the schedule for FY2026 as budgeted in the tentative budget.
