COMPILED BY BROOKE SJOBERG
HIGHLIGHTS ROUND ROCK District Police Chief Jeff Yarbrough will leave Round Rock ISD to become the Hutto chief of police on April 18. RRISD officials will name an interim replacement by April 15. Round Rock ISD board of trustees Meets April 21 at 5:30 p.m. 300 Lake Creek Drive, Round Rock 512-464-5000 www.roundrockisd.org MEETINGSWE COVER POSITIONS COMPARED TOPREVIOUSYEARS.” EDDIE CURRAN, RRISD CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCE OFFICER QUOTEOFNOTE “SINCEOCTOBER,WHEN THE [TEXASACADEMIC PERFORMANCEREPORT] WASPUBLISHED,WE’VE SEENASIGNIFICANT INCREASE INTHENUMBER OF SEPARATIONS INALL EMPLOYEE
Teachers advocate for higher educational assistant pay ROUND ROCK ISD Citing reduced
pay increase for teachers. Cindy Hernandez, a 15-year EA with the district, told the board in the time she has worked for RRISD, her district wages forced her to sell her home and rely on family members to house herself and her three children, who were students in the district during that time. Multiple former and current dis- trict employees told the board during the March 24 meeting that their benefits and pay no longer stretch as far as they used to. “I had to secure a second job, and I donate plasma twice a week,” RRISD
teacher Heidi Klein said. “Last month I made more [through a part time job and plasma donations] than I do as an educator.” Deaf education assistant Tori Beard said the average cost of a one-bed- room apartment outside of Austin already exceeds her monthly wage with the school district. “We all know that increased value should equal increased pay,” Beard said. “Unfortunately, that’s not the case here in the last two years.” The board’s recent budget dis- cussions regarding pay include increases of 1%, 2% or 3% for the upcoming year. That would increase the projected deficit for the year by $8 million to up to $13.8 million, according to RRISD Chief Finance Officer Dennis Covington. The district called a meeting for March 31, after press time for this edition, to discuss an amendment to its compensation plan to increase some lower staff pay grades within RRISD.
staffing and rising costs of living, more than a dozen speakers urged the Round Rock ISD board of trustees to increase pay for educational assis- tants, or EAs, and paraprofessionals during a March 24 board meeting. The starting pay for RRISD EAs is $13.15 with a maximum of $18.85, and district staff addressing the board pointed out that is not much more than the starting pay for retail and food service sector jobs locally, despite the vast difference in qualifications. In 2021, the board approved a 1% FINDING THE MONEY The RRISD board of trustees is working to find money for staff raises, but officials said increases will raise the district’s 2022-23 budget deficit considerably. The following figures show how much the deficit would increase based on various pay increases.
Pay percentage increase
Deficit increase
1% 2% 3% $8M $10.8M $13.8M SOURCE: ROUND ROCK ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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ROUND ROCK EDITION • APRIL 2022
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