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Catalina Foothills Unified School District board approves teacher pay raise, longevity addendum and benefit plan contributions as part of FY2027 budget proposal
Summary
The governing board approved a revised salary schedule that raises the starting teacher salary to $54,000, a $1,000 one‑year longevity addendum for returning certified staff, and continued a district contribution of $6,084 toward employee health benefits as part of the FY2027 straw budget package.
The Catalina Foothills Unified School District governing board on Tuesday approved a package of pay and benefits measures tied to its FY2027 maintenance and operations budget proposal. The actions include raising the starting teacher salary to $54,000, a vertical step movement on the certified salary schedule, and a $1,000 one‑year longevity addendum for certified employees hired before Dec. 1, 2025, prorated by FTE.
Superintendent Dr. Denise Bartlett told the board the proposal is intended to “sustain all student programs and services” while addressing recruitment and retention through compensation. She described the proposal as a mix of permanent schedule increases and a temporary addendum designed to provide greater take-home pay without committing the district to unsustainable recurring costs.
Mindy Westover, the associate superintendent, explained the compensation package in detail, saying the combination of the schedule increase, step movement and longevity addendum will amount to roughly a $2,910 total increase for a full‑time certified employee and an average compensation increase of about 4.06 percent. “This vertical step movement and longevity addendum will result in a $2,910 increase in compensation per certified employee with a 1.0 FTE,” Westover said.
Board members discussed durability and tradeoffs. Several members and staff stressed the district faces declining enrollment and only a 2 percent state funding increase assumption, and that some of the proposed pay increases will be funded in part by a transfer from the district’s capital-related District Additional Assistance fund into the M&O budget.
The board approved: (1) the professional salary schedule raising the starting certified salary to $54,000; and (2) a vertical step movement plus the $1,000 prorated longevity addendum for eligible returning certified employees. Both actions passed in recorded votes during the meeting.
On benefits, staff recommended continuing the district’s cafeteria‑plan contribution of $6,084 per eligible employee for the July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027 plan year and keeping the district’s current benefit vendors, including the ASBA insurance trust for medical coverage. Representatives explained the district received an approximate 6 percent premium increase from the medical pool but were able to avoid plan design changes that would have disrupted provider networks. The board voted to continue the $6,084 contribution and to approve the recommended list of benefit providers.
The budget presentation also included staffing proposals intended to maintain service levels: adding 1.5 FTE math teachers at middle/high school, a 0.5 FTE reading tutor at Manzanita Elementary, and a 0.5 FTE office clerk at Orange Grove Middle School to respond to rising enrollment and workload in those sites.
The board approved a first round of professional staff contracts reflecting the new salary schedule and addenda; staff said subsequent rounds will follow for any nonrenewals or positions that become available. The district will continue to bring the FY2027 budget back for additional iterations before a final June adoption.
What’s next: the district will finalize contracts for the approved staff and continue budget revisions in the coming weeks before formal adoption in June.
