Superintendent asks city for $9.4 million as part of $14.8M pay-correction package

Superintendent Dr. Bracey told the school board he is requesting $14.8 million to address salary compression and bring Portsmouth teacher and staff pay into competitive alignment with neighboring districts.

The nut graf: the request combines a multi-year compensation-correction plan recommended by an outside compensation study with funding to cover the state-proposed 3 percent raise for Standards of Quality (SOQ) positions. Because the state funds only SOQ positions and Portsmouth employs many staff above the SOQ, local funding is required to make the full adjustments.

Dr. Bracey said the division has not done step increases since about 2016 and that the result is severe compression: the division has 36 fewer teachers with 10+ years of experience and 61 fewer with five-to-10 years compared with two years earlier, a combined loss of 97 veteran teachers. He said correcting the scale would place Portsmouth among the top-paid divisions in the region and help recruit and retain experienced teachers.

School finance staff provided fund totals and revenue assumptions the board will consider. The presentation listed a proposed general-fund budget of $232.4 million for FY 2025–26 and a total of all funds at $295.4 million; presenters said the superintendent’s estimate is based on the governor’s introduced/amended biennial budget and current state projections. The superintendent and finance staff said they had strategically used flexible grant and mandate-related funds and now request $9.4 million from the city to meet the compensation and staffing needs this year.

Dr. Bracey outlined other staffing requests totaling about $2.4 million: four CTE teachers for the new PACE center ($442,000), three dual-language immersion teachers ($312,000), 10 additional ESL teachers ($975,000), and several security upgrades (estimated $439,400 for 13 upgrades and $187,200 for middle-school security positions). He said the $14.8 million estimate also covers placing current employees on corrected steps and the state 3% raise. The staff explained that step placement will be implemented going forward on the pay scale and that the adjustment is not retroactive pay owed for past years.

Board members asked funding and distribution questions. Staff said step adjustments will place employees on an appropriate step (for example, a current step 5 teacher could be moved to step 13) and that the resulting annual salary will be paid over the contract year; presenters said the adjustments do not create retroactive back pay. Members also discussed whether casino revenues had been allocated directly to schools; presenters said no direct, fixed percentage from casino proceeds to the school division exists on record.

The superintendent said he will present the same needs to city council at a meeting scheduled for Monday and will follow up after his meeting with the city manager.