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Brenham ISD trustees weigh trade-offs after $1.04M from House Bill 2 for raises
Summary
Brenham ISD’s board reviewed scenarios for staff compensation after chief financial officer Daryl Sinclair said the district currently assumes $1,041,000 from House Bill 2. Trustees debated a 2.75% districtwide raise versus a 3% plan and targeted increases for lowest-paid paraprofessionals and early steps on the teacher pay scale.
Brenham Independent School District trustees spent the bulk of their July budget workshop reviewing how recently enacted state funding and local options could be used to raise employee pay.
Chief Financial Officer Daryl Sinclair told the board the district is currently assuming about $1,041,000 in new recurring state revenue tied to House Bill 2 and outlined multiple compensation scenarios. “That’s the current assumption unless something else changes on the template,” Sinclair said, describing a packet of scenarios trustees were asked to use as a workshop, not a final decision.
Sinclair walked the board through step increases for teachers, mandated retention allotments and the districtwide percent increases that would be required to enact different raises. He estimated that advancing all teachers one step (with benefits) would cost about $173,000, and that a 3% across‑the‑board raise would add roughly $565,000 in payroll cost. “Just doing that minimal $1,000 per step for 0, 1 and 2 pulls enough money out of this million‑dollar pot that we need to reduce something somewhere else,” Sinclair said.
Trustees pressed on equity and retention. Several members argued for prioritizing paraprofessionals and the lowest paid employees, pointing out Brenham ISD’s entry para pay of $11.33 an hour lags neighboring districts. One trustee said the proposed decrease from 3% to 2.75% to free money for step 0–2 increases “seems not a lot to me if you want to value your employees,” and urged the board to find a plan that avoids pitting one group of staff against another.
Board members and staff also discussed targeted approaches other districts have used, such as retention bonuses or restructuring base pay. Christy Johnson, chief of staff, noted that raising a midpoint by percentage may not raise the starting salary for some hourly jobs and recommended a separate conversation about base pay adjustments.
The board did not adopt a final compensation plan; Sinclair and the strategic planning committee said they will provide refinements and recommendations in subsequent budget workshops ahead of an August decision window.
