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Mercer County board approves 7% minimum pay increase for staff
Summary
The Mercer County Board of Education approved a motion to adopt a 7% minimum increase across certified, classified and site positions; staff said each 1% costs about $173,000 and starting teacher pay will be roughly $47,080. Vote tally for the 7% motion is not specified in the transcript.
The Mercer County Board of Education moved to raise the district salary schedule by a minimum of 7% across certified, classified and site positions, a step trustees and staff said will boost starting teacher pay to about $47,080 and starting bus-driver pay to roughly $19.19 an hour.
Board members voted to place the salary changes on the table after staff presented budget comparisons and options ranging from 3% to 9%. The district finance officer told trustees the working budget is roughly $897,000 lower than the prior year and that each 1% increase on the salary schedule adds about $173,000 to the district’s costs. "For every 1% increase on the salary schedule, it's a 173,000 more than what that step would cost," the finance officer said.
The finance officer also said the proposed stipend adjustments would include all stipends except those written into specific grants, and that ESSER funding ending Sept. 30 means some summer-program models (such as Titan Academy) will be restructured rather than continued at prior rates.
A board member made the motion to adopt a 7% schedule and a second was recorded. The transcript contains expressions of appreciation and multiple board members and staff calling the move "historic" for Mercer County Schools and noting the increase is intended to improve recruitment and retention. "This moves us in a different category statewide as far as recruiting new teachers," an unidentified speaker who identified as superintendent said, adding, "Our starting pay will now be, for a brand-new teacher, dollars 47,080."
The transcript does not record a roll-call tally for the 7% motion; it records the motion and the second and later celebrates the change. The board also discussed timing and revenue uncertainty tied to property-assessment updates and tax-rate decisions later this summer; staff said final budget materials will be consolidated with the working budget in September.
Next steps: staff will incorporate the approved salary schedule into the district’s working budget and present budget materials later this year when tax and assessment information is available.
