St. Tammany School Board approves MOU with teachers' federation, makes permanent pay raises for certificated and support staff

The St. Tammany Parish School Board voted 10-0 May 28 to approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers and School Employees that, as presented by the administration, converts several temporary stipends into permanent pay increases for district employees and adds new supplemental-pay provisions.

Superintendent Frank Jabia told the board the agreement would give a permanent pay raise of $2,550 for certificated personnel and $1,750 for support personnel, and that the parties negotiated changes meant to reduce reliance on short-term stipends. "We want to ... move over to a permanent pay raise for our employees," Jabia said in presenting the MOU.

Why it matters: the agreement changes the district salary structure and is intended to improve recruitment and retention as the district competes with nearby parishes for licensed clinicians and other hard-to-fill roles. The board and negotiators said the MOU was possible, in part, because the district freed capital funding after voters approved a bond package earlier this year.

Key terms and program changes - Permanent raises: The administration and the federation agreed to a permanent increase of $2,550 for certificated employees and $1,750 for support staff. The presentation described those raises as roughly equivalent to five salary "steps." - Stipends removed or reworked: The district will eliminate several targeted stipends used previously for critical-subject recruitment and for targeted schools; negotiators said employees already enrolled in multi‑year certification pathways before an April 30 cut‑off will be "grandfathered" to complete those pathways. -…