North Kansas City Schools board approves multi-part salary schedules; average raises about 4–5%

The North Kansas City Schools Board of Education on April 22 approved a set of salary schedules covering classified staff, supplemental pay, certified teachers and school psychologists, and administrators that district officials said will raise pay roughly 4–5% on average for most employees.

Chief Financial Officer Matt Frist, presenting the proposals, said the classified schedule changes and related supplemental-pay adjustments are designed to produce an effective average increase of about 4.35% for nonadministrator classified employees, while the certified teacher and school psychologist schedule yields an estimated overall average increase of about 4.85% across the affected steps and lanes. "This schedule... allows for all of those folks to get an average of 4.35% increase," Frist said.

The salary changes combined carry a multi-million-dollar price tag. Frist said the classified and supplemental schedules total roughly $2.9 million and the certified schedule adds about $5.7 million for teachers and psychologists. The board materials list roughly 1,500 classified staff covered by the classified schedule and more than 1,720 certified staff affected by the certified schedule. A separate administrators memo shows roughly 188 administrative positions with individual salary changes listed in the board packet.

Why it matters: the raises affect the district workforce across dozens of job categories and increase ongoing personnel costs that are sensitive to the district's state funding. The board and district negotiators also included contingent language allowing the district to return with revised schedules if the state fully funds the foundation formula.

What changed and how it was negotiated Matt Frist said the district used its standing salary-subcommittee process and comparative benchmarking to shape the certified schedule. The proposal adds 2.2% to the certified base and preserves step-and-lane movement for eligible teachers. "The proposal follows board policy to allow for step and lane movement and adds 2.2% to the base of the schedule," Frist said.

Amanda Bearden, representing the district's teacher negotiating team (CTTN), summarized changes that emerged from bargaining and building visits. She said bereavement leave in the collective bargaining agreement will increase to five days for the death of an immediate family member and that the agreement will now provide five days of bereavement leave for the loss of a pregnancy. "Moving forward within the CBA... there will now be 5 days of bereavement leave as opposed to 3," Bearden said.

Bearden also said the parties clarified language on in‑district transfers and student-teacher mentor compensation, and made adjustments to blocked or "blackout" days so staff can use certain approved personal leave days (APL) on some previously restricted dates. In the supplemental schedule, stipends for teacher-leader roles such as TLC and BLT members were adjusted to reflect a $25-per-hour rate (up from an earlier $20.77 hourly assumption) to better capture time spent in those roles.

Contingency and next steps Superintendent-level presenters and negotiators told the board the district added approximately 70 positions in the proposed staffing plan—positions described as additions for special education support, English language learners, and additional counselors—and emphasized the proposals were crafted conservatively because state funding remains uncertain. Frist and district leaders said if the state fully funds the foundation formula, the board could revisit the schedules in January to expand raises further.

Board action and votes at a glance - Classified salary schedule (move to approve as presented): motion moved and seconded; outcome: approved. - Supplemental salary schedule (move to approve as presented): motion moved and seconded; outcome: approved. - Certified teacher and school psychologist schedule (move to approve as presented): motion moved and seconded; outcome: approved. - Administrator salary memo (move to approve as presented): motion moved and seconded; outcome: approved.

(For all of the above, the board voted to approve the presented schedules during the April 22 meeting; the motions were moved and seconded on the record. Specific roll-call vote names and counts were not recorded verbatim in the public transcript beyond several members saying "aye" and a small number of abstentions at various agenda moments.)

Budget context and fiscal notes Frist gave the board the treasurer's update just before the salary discussion. He said fiscal-year-to-date operating revenues were up nearly 7% and expenditures were also up about 7%, with the district having collected roughly 81% of its budgeted revenues and expended about 66.7% of operating expenditures through March. The Clay County Collector has remitted about 98.7% of local tax revenue. State revenue collections were down in March and Frist said year-to-date net general revenue collections were down just over 1%; the district expects final state budget clarity by May 9.

What the district said about fairness and retention District leaders and teacher negotiators said the changes reflect efforts to align pay to comparable districts, support recruitment and retention and address staff requests surfaced in building visits and the employee engagement survey. Amanda Bearden noted the contingency language that preserves the district's ability to increase raises should additional state funding arrive.

Where to find details The board packet includes the full salary-schedule documents and an administrator salary memo listing individual administrator positions and proposed salaries. The motion language recorded on the public transcript was the routine "move to approve the [schedule/memo] as presented." The board approved the items at the April 22 meeting.