Georgetown ISD trustees approve 2025–26 compensation plan, retroactive pay and superintendent contract amendment

Georgetown Independent School District trustees on Aug. 4 approved a FY2025–26 compensation plan that trustees and district staff said is funded largely by new state allotments from House Bill 2 and by a reduction in recapture payments.

Superintendent (name not specified) recommended the plan, and the board voted by voice to approve it after presentations from Amanda Johnson and colleagues. The district presented line-item estimates it said were tied to the plan: a teacher retention allotment of $3,900,000 the district said will be passed through from the Texas Education Agency to qualifying teachers; additional 0–2 year teacher increases (presented as ~$394,000), a 2% midpoint adjustment for non‑teacher staff (presented as ~$1.2–1.3M), stipends and other recommendations (~$527,000), critical positions added back (~$265,000), benefits for added compensation (~$611,000), and an increased district health-insurance contribution with a stated total cost of $512,400. The district reported a projected remaining surplus of $176,007.82 after those changes, as presented to trustees.

On teacher pay, presenters described a new salary grid and said the district is recommending an increase to the starting teacher pay (“year 0 starts at 57” in the transcript) and a $1,000 add-on for teachers in years 1–2; teachers who complete years 3–4 would be eligible for a $2,500 retention allotment and those with 5+ years for $5,000, as described by staff. The district also proposed moving librarians and instructional coaches off the teacher pay scale; presenters said instructional coaches would receive roughly $1,200–$1,400 increases and librarians would see larger increases tied to experience.

The board separately approved a resolution authorizing retroactive pay for employees whose pay periods began before the amended compensation plan takes effect; staff said the pool affected is a small percentage of employees and that retroactive payments would be made no later than September.

Trustees also voted to amend the superintendent’s contract following discussion in closed session and a mid‑year evaluation. The transcript records a motion, second and a voice vote; no roll‑call tallies were recorded in the public transcript.

What the district said and what the record shows

• Funding: District presenters attributed the feasibility of the plan to recent legislation (House Bill 2) and a lower-than-expected recapture payment from the state; they said HB2’s teacher-retention and support‑staff allotments are central to paying the increases. The TEA pass-through amount for teacher retention was identified in the presentation as $3.9 million.

• Timing and implementation: Staff said teachers’ calendars remain September–August, so most teachers would see the pay increase beginning in September; employees with calendars starting in July who already received paychecks would be eligible for retroactive adjustments under the approved resolution.

• Insurance and benefits: Staff announced a move to Blue Cross Blue Shield with Higginbotham as third‑party administrator and presented a total cost for the district contribution; transcript figures for the monthly contribution included inconsistent numerals and have been flagged for clarification in the district’s posted minutes and budget amendment.

Trustees’ comments and next steps

Several trustees thanked staff for the multi-month work to arrive at a balanced budget and compensation package. Board members asked for and were promised follow-up detail on specific stipend amounts and athletic stipend adjustments. District staff said they will return any amended compensation plan to the board if TEA’s classification guidance changes.

The board approved the compensation plan and the two related resolutions by voice vote; the public transcript does not include a roll‑call tally of yes/no votes.