Oak Ridge educators request 7% pay increase; district recommends 5% for principals

At the March meeting of the Oak Ridge Board of Education, Peter Blair, president of the Oak Ridge Education Association and a Willowbrook second-grade teacher, asked the board to adopt a package of compensation changes, including a 7% pay increase for all employees.

Blair told the board, “We'd like 4 things. A 7% increase for all employees and step increases for eligible employees.” He said other union requests included increasing the district insurance contribution, a new unused-sick-day payout, and paid parental leave for teacher assistants. Blair cited nearby districts’ pay scales and said a larger raise was needed to retain staff after neighboring districts offered larger increases.

The district presented a separate proposal for principal pay. Christy Free, a staff member who said she worked on the proposal with Mr. Tinker, said the district recommends a 5% market adjustment for Oak Ridge principals based on regional salary comparisons on Salary.com. Free summarized the findings: “At the 70 fifth percentile, Oak Ridge Schools currently is below the state average and falls behind Murfreesboro, Franklin, and Knoxville slightly. So a 5% increase places us above the state average and all the surrounding areas.”

Why it matters: pay and benefits decisions affect hiring and retention across the district, including principals, classroom teachers and support staff. Blair told the board the goal is “to be able to hire and retain the best possible staff.” Free said the district’s proposal is intended to keep Oak Ridge competitive at the principal level.

Discussion and next steps: Board members told speakers the proposals will be discussed in the board’s retreat next week and in ongoing budget meetings. Dr. Borchers, identified in meeting discussion as the superintendent, and other administrators said staff will bring further budget details to those sessions. No formal salary or benefit changes were adopted at the meeting; members deferred final decisions to future budget work sessions.

Details of union request and district proposal

- Union (Oak Ridge Education Association, represented by Peter Blair): asked for a 7% across-the-board raise; step-increase expansion (Blair said the district currently has 20 steps and asked for an increase to 25 or 30); higher district insurance contribution (Blair said the union’s ask was 90% for individuals and 80% for families, and also later referenced moving individual contribution levels “from 85 to 90” and family levels “from 70 to 75”); a paid unused-sick-day payout at retirement (Blair cited examples: Campbell County $150 per day, Monroe County $75, Knox County $60 up to $100); and parental leave for teacher assistants.

- District staff (presented by Christy Free): recommended a 5% increase for principals, citing regional percentile comparisons from Salary.com. Free noted Oak Ridge is a small district with seven principals, three of whom are in their first three years of principal experience. Free said even after a 5% adjustment principals at the 90th percentile would remain below the statewide 90th-percentile average.

Quoted remarks (verbatim from the meeting)

- “We'd like 4 things. A 7% increase for all employees and step increases for eligible employees.” — Peter Blair, OREA president and Willowbrook second-grade teacher.

- “So a 5% increase places us above the state average and all the surrounding areas.” — Christy Free, staff member presenting the principal salary proposal.

What the board said

Board members thanked speakers and noted a schedule of upcoming budget meetings and a retreat where compensation items will be reviewed in detail. No formal vote on the union proposal or the principals’ pay recommendation was taken during the meeting.

Clarifying details

- The union characterized its insurance ask as 90% employee contribution and 80% family contribution; later comments referenced moving district-covered shares from 85% to 90% for individuals and from 70% to 75% for families (the transcript records both formulations).

- The district’s principal-salary recommendation was based on Salary.com percentile comparisons; the presentation noted Oak Ridge has seven principals and that three are within their first three years of experience.

Speakers