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North Kingstown draft budget includes salary steps, 3% teacher/admin increase and proposed long‑term substitute pay rise
Summary
The FY 2026 preliminary budget includes step increases and a 3% contractual increase for teachers and administrators, partial increases to pension and health cost estimates, continued grant‑supported coaching positions, and a proposed boost to long‑term substitute pay intended to improve fill rates.
The district’s FY 2026 draft incorporates contractual obligations and market pressures on salaries and benefits while proposing a targeted change to substitute pay intended to improve coverage.
Salaries and benefits highlights
- Salary increases: staff said budget assumptions include typical step increases and a 3 percent contractual increase for teachers; administrative employees will follow the same percentage. Administration estimated roughly $1.3 million in salary increases as a baseline. - Substitute pay: administration proposed increasing the long‑term substitute daily rate (a targeted increase) to help the district attract and retain long‑term fill teachers. Staff reported the long‑term substitute raise would be paid through the purchased‑services substitute agency (ESS) and is expected to increase overall sub expenses; exact daily rates were discussed in the meeting but the budget holds the daily short‑term substitute rate steady. - Benefits: the draft assumes a 5 percent increase in health and dental costs for budgeting purposes; administration noted actual trust rates can vary and cited a prior year that came in at 6.5 percent. Pension rates were shown as a 16.8 percent rate for MERS and a small decrease for the teachers’ ERSRI rate from 15.54 percent to 15.1 percent in the draft documents. - Employee Assistance Program (EAP): staff said the trust changed EAP vendors; the new program provides more services and, through negotiation with the trust, the district received an offset so employee out‑of‑pocket costs remain comparable to the prior program.
New position requests
Administration presented a list of school and district position requests identified by principals and department heads as critical needs. The full list was not included in the approved budget; if the committee approved all requested positions the estimated FY‑26 salary and benefit cost would be about $1.4 million. Staff said some positions are expected to be supported by restricted grants when available.
Questions from the committee
Committee members asked for a position‑by‑position fiscal breakout of the $1.4 million estimate and for the salary worksheet that shows stipend, overtime and hourly breakouts. Administrators agreed to provide that information by the next meeting.
Ending
Administration recommended the committee treat the draft as a working document; they said negotiations and final state and trust rates will determine final figures.
