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McAllen ISD librarian urges reclassification as board weighs 2026–27 pay scenarios
Summary
At a May 27 budget workshop, librarian Sharon Degrroot urged McAllen ISD trustees to reclassify librarians as teachers after a budget decision excluded them from teacher pay raises; staff said targeted market-equity adjustments would raise pay but would not automatically qualify librarians for the Teacher Incentive Allotment.
A librarian described as "heartbroken" by the district's recent pay-category change pressed the McAllen Independent School District Board of Trustees on May 27 to restore librarians to the teacher pay category as trustees considered four compensation scenarios for the 2026–27 budget.
"I am heartbroken that librarians were not seen as educators in our district," Sharon Degrroot, librarian at Pablo Pettis Elementary, told the board during the public-comment period, describing a day that includes back-to-back instructional classes, duty, club sponsorship and lesson planning outside school hours.
The request came as Deputy Superintendent for Business and Operations Lorena Garcia presented four compensation options for the coming year. Option A would raise teacher pay 1% (3% for hourly support staff and 1% for administrators) and is projected to create about a $3.87 million deficit. Options with larger teacher increases (1.5% and 1.75%) produce larger gaps; an alternative (Option D) would be a one-time $1,000 payment to staff and is non-recurring.
Garcia said staff also recommend targeted market-equity adjustments proposed by TASB to raise particular positions to roughly 1% above the teacher scale for comparable years of experience. "They would be making 1% over the teacher salary had they stayed in the teaching position with the same years of experience," Garcia said, describing the proposed equity adjustment that would apply to certain positions identified on a chart the district provided.
Board members asked whether the market-equity adjustment would make librarians eligible for the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA). Staff responded that the adjustment would increase pay but would not change TIA eligibility. According to staff, TIA eligibility requires coding as a teacher of record on student rosters and meeting the allotment's instructional and growth-measure requirements; staff said they had not identified districts that had successfully coded librarians as teachers for TIA purposes without a corresponding change in duties or roster assignments.
The workshop presentation asked trustees for direction on which compensation scenario to model in the draft budget due to be posted in mid-June and adopted June 23. Garcia said staff preferred guidance soon so the district can prepare the budget book and the required taxpayer impact statement.
The board did not take a formal vote on a compensation scenario at the May 27 workshop; staff requested direction at the next meeting and scheduled a follow-up budget workshop in mid-June.
The district presentation and public comment are part of a multi-stage budget process that includes posting a proposed budget and taxpayer impact statement before public notice and a final adoption vote by June 30.
