Frederick County finance committee hears salary, health-insurance and program proposals; forwards $1M Dell contract to full board

The Frederick County School Board's finance committee on Feb. 2 reviewed the superintendent's needs-based budget priorities, including a multi-pronged salary initiative, a sharp projected increase in health-insurance costs and new instructional pilots, and voted to forward a $1,000,000 information-technology contract with Dell Marketing LP to the full board.

The committee heard staff describe year three of a five-year salary strategy intended to address years-of-service "compression" and improve recruitment. Staff proposed a 5.6% teacher pay-scale average at an estimated $6.8 million cost, composed of a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment plus phase-3 adjustments that unclutter two years of experience and provide step movements. Classified hourly staff were proposed to see a 5.8% average increase at an estimated $2.2 million, while other professional staff would average 5.6% and administrators would receive a 2.8% COLA plus an average 2.8% for phase-3 improvements.

"This is an opportunity for us to break down each and every section," staff said when introducing the needs-based budget and the salary proposals. Staff repeatedly noted that the percentages are scale averages and that individual employee increases will vary depending on where an employee sits on the pay scale.

Staff framed the pay work as a response to recent turnover and regional competition: slides shown to the committee noted that 32 staff left the…