Waxahachie ISD budget workshop lays out $3.5 million staff-pay proposal; board directs staff to seek improvements

Waxahachie Independent School District trustees approved a staff compensation plan on a 5–1 vote after a multi-hour budget workshop in which staff described new state allotments and a draft pay package that district leaders say would keep the budget balanced.

District staff presented the budget workshop as the third in a series and centered the discussion on staff compensation, which the presenter said was the “big one” left unresolved after recent state legislative changes. The presentation laid out newly available state funding streams and how the district would use them to pay staff increases.

The district projected new state revenue from multiple allotments: an increase in the basic allotment worth roughly $55 per average daily attendance (ADA) (estimated yield about $610,000); a staff-retention allotment of $45 per ADA (about $500,000); a school-safety allotment increased to $20 per ADA plus about $33,540 per campus (estimated yield about $800,000); and a basic-cost allotment of $106 per ADA (estimated about $1,000,187). Taken together (excluding the teacher-retention allotment), staff said those items total roughly $3.1 million in new state funding.

Using those revenues plus about $300,000 net savings from the district's budget-reduction/reallocation work, staff proposed a compensation package the presenter estimated would cost about $3.5 million.

Key elements of the proposal included: - Raising starting pay for teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses to $57,000 (present starting pay cited as $54,600). - Providing a $2,300–$2,500 increase for teachers on early pay steps (explicitly noting state-funded teacher-retention allotment provides $2,500 for steps 3–4 and $5,000 for step 5+ where eligible). - Granting a 5% increase for auxiliary, clerical, paraprofessional and classified professional employees. - Granting a 3% increase for employees on the administrative scale (excluding the superintendent and the presenter's own compensation set by contract). - Increasing the district monthly health-insurance contribution from $245 to $300 per employee.

District staff cautioned that the package depended on final counts of staff by pay step and on whether staff in roles such as diagnosticians, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and other specialized staff qualify for the state's teacher-retention allotment; staff said they are developing a process to determine which positions meet the allotment's criteria (for example, a coding as teachers and at least four hours of direct student contact were mentioned as part of the state's qualification). The presenter said: "We are developing a process to determine exactly who qualifies in that area."

Trustees and staff discussed trade-offs. Some trustees urged higher starting pay (one trustee suggested $58,000) and larger raises for lowest-paid hourly workers; one trustee asked that custodians and other low-paid employees receive an 8% increase instead of 5%. The presenter calculated that raising auxiliary/clerical/paraprofessional increases from 5% to 8% would cost roughly $700,000–$800,000 and said that adding that amount to the plan, "would throw us into that deficit category." The presenter said the district would first look at the insurance contribution if it needed to create room for additional raises.

A public comment during the meeting underscored staff morale concerns. Leslie Jerkash, a Northside Elementary teacher with 16 years in the district, told the board she makes about $62,818 gross and described the household and housing-cost pressures facing long‑time teachers. Jerkash said many teachers have left the district for higher pay elsewhere and called on trustees to "stand up for us" if the proposed raise is not sufficient.

After discussion, Trustee Autry moved that the board approve the compensation plan as presented and direct staff to continue seeking ways to increase the proposal before the next workshop; Trustee Schofield seconded. Trustees voted to approve the plan 5–1. The board and staff noted the plan can be amended up until Aug. 31 before the fiscal year starts.

Officials asked trustees to consider the durability of the new state allotments. Staff warned that special allotments are subject to future legislative change and said: "there is a little bit of a concern" that special allotments could be modified or rescinded in future sessions. Staff favored relying on a mix of recurring state additions and local savings while maintaining a balanced budget.

The district scheduled a fourth budget workshop for Aug. 11 to review the tax rate and finalize the budget.

Ending: The board approved the compensation plan with direction to seek additional options; staff said final implementation details (including which employees qualify for the teacher-retention allotment and the exact distribution across pay steps) will be finalized before the start of the fiscal year.