The Hamilton County School Board on Monday voted to accept a newly awarded school-based mental-health grant — described by district staff as about $7,000,000 over four years — and to authorize associated pay- and staffing changes for school psychologists and speech-language pathologists.

District staff presented a three-part request: move school psychologists and some SLPs from the certified pay scale to the classified schedule and adjust day-counts to improve recruitment and retention; accept the new grant funding; and create a grant-funded manager position that would be written as a 0.5 full-time equivalent in the new award and combined with an existing 0.5 FTE from a separate 'dream' grant to make a full, grant-funded FTE for grants management. "We were awarded ... about $7,000,000 over the next 4 years," the district’s chief talent officer said during the presentation.

Why it matters: District officials said the grant will let the system raise entry and minimum salaries for school psychologists — a profession the presenter said has an average pay of about $68,000–$69,000 and a current minimum “a little over $50,000” — to a new minimum in the low $61,000s. The change, officials said, is intended to reduce vacancies (the presenter put psychologist positions near 37 openings systemwide) and to make the district more competitive with neighboring systems.

Board members sought specifics before approving the package. Miss Thomas asked whether there would be salary caps and how existing employees would be treated; the presenter said internal equity adjustments would be made and that the grant would initially fund the increases and related recruitment work. The presenter also said the new grant-funded manager would be a 260-day employee paid entirely from grant money and that the position would end when the grant expires in four years.

The board approved the item by roll-call vote. The motion to accept the grant and the associated pay and structure changes passed with unanimous recorded support in the roll call shown at the meeting.

What happens next: District staff said the grant begins Jan. 1 and that the district will use the early months to finalize compensation steps, hire the grant manager and begin recruitment and retention work. Staff also said they would return with implementation details, including specific salary schedules and timelines.

Sources and attributions: Presentation and quotes came from the district presenter identified in meeting materials and recorded in the board transcript as the chief talent officer (name not stated in the transcript). The board’s approval and roll-call votes are recorded in the meeting minutes and transcript.