TASB presents pay-maintenance plan; district staff estimate $7.1 million cost for 2% general increase

Luz Cadena of the Texas Association of School Boards presented a pay-maintenance study to the Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees, recommending a 2% general pay increase and targeted adjustments. Cadena told trustees the district has moved from being “6 to 10% below market” in 2019–20 to being at or above the median of its peer group for most teacher steps and many nonteacher job groups.

Cadena said the TASB model would base the general pay increase on the median teacher salary among peer districts and on adjusted range midpoints for nonteacher groups. She estimated the general 2% pay increase would cost about $5.9 million. Additional schedule and placement adjustments would add roughly $1.1 million, producing a total projected cost of about $7.1 million, which Cadena said would equal “a 2.4% increase to your current payroll budget.”

Why it matters: Trustees and district staff framed the discussion around competing to recruit and retain employees while staying within limited local resources and awaiting possible state funding. Board members pressed for district-level comparisons, for more information on police and security pay, and for a breakdown of the assumptions behind the cost model.

Cadena described the pay strategy and market peers. She said TASB used a 14-district peer group the firm has worked with the district since 2019–20; two of those peers did not…