Canutillo ISD approves teacher step increases and stipends; $500 retention payment deferred to June

The Canutillo Independent School District board on May 26 approved a compensation package that includes teacher step increases and multiple stipend allocations, while deferring a contingent $500 one‑time retention stipend until trustees receive more detail on funding and eligibility.

Administrator Martha Carrasco presented the compensation package and said the teacher step‑increase line totals about $169,500. She also listed stipend requests that together total $45,720, including 13 dyslexia stipends ($7,345), athletic stipend increases ($11,255), two athletic trainer stipends ($11,300), a cheer stipend and autism lead stipends (grant‑funded items among them).

Carrasco proposed a one‑time $500 employee retention stipend that would apply to full‑time, leave‑accruing employees and estimated the cost at $522,625. She characterized the payment as contingent on available funding and recommended the board approve the stipends and step increases while delaying final action on the retention stipend until administration could confirm specific funding thresholds and TRS implications.

Trustees requested precise lists of stipend recipients and the specific funding sources for each stipend item. Trustee Maldonado asked whether the 13 dyslexia stipends were the same teachers who previously served as at‑risk or RTI teachers; administration said the stipend list breaks down across elementary RTI/at‑risk teachers, middle‑school reading teachers and specific high‑school teachers and that grant funds are supplementing some of the costs.

There was also extended discussion about budgeting methodology and the need to show central‑office vs campus allocations. Trustees asked administration to provide comparative market data and backup tables in the Thursday packet; administration agreed to provide the supporting spreadsheets and to return in June with more detail on the contingent stipend.

Trustee Borrego moved to approve the compensation plan and stipends for 2026–27, excluding the retention stipend which the board asked to revisit in June; the motion passed on roll call.

Administration additionally said it would continue to pursue grant, land‑sale and other revenue options that could enable the contingent retention payment, and clarified that if the stipend were approved and paid it would be a one‑time, TRS‑eligible payment contingent on a year‑end surplus or identified funding source.