McKinney | June 2024

Education

BY HANNAH JOHNSON

Officials OK 3% raise for teachers, staff

McKinney ISD starting teacher salary

$80K

the right to adjust the compensation increase in response to future legislative changes, Harbeson said. Any pay raises that could come from an increase in school funding due to the 89th legislative session, which begins in January 2025, will be communicated to employees. “If we want to do an increase at a later point in the year, we’d be able to do that,” she said. Three compensation increase options were presented to the board of trustees: • No raise, with zero financial impact on the budget • 2% raise, with a $3.75 million financial impact on the budget • 3% raise, with a $5.64 million financial impact on the budget

McKinney ISD officials approved a 3% raise for teachers and staff members in the 2024-25 school year in the midst of a budget shortfall the district faces in the next fiscal year. The compensation increase was approved by the district’s board of trustees May 13. Employees, including teachers, nurses, counselors, librarians and other eligible positions, will receive 3% raises for the next school year. The cost of the raise for the district is $5.64 million, Chief Financial Officer Marlene Harbeson said. Although teachers already employed with the district will receive 3% raises, the salary for a starting teacher will be set at $62,100—a 2.7% increase from the starting salary of $60,450 in the 2023-24 school year. As part of the resolution, district officials reserve

$70K

$60K

$50K

The salary for teachers with 0 years of experience will be $62,100 —an 11% increase since 2019.

$40K

$30K

$20K

$0 $10K

School year

SOURCE: MCKINNEY ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT

Diving in deeper

Looking ahead

• Reducing central office staff through attrition • Reducing operating budgets • Considering campus consolidations or boundary realignments • Increasing student to teacher ratios No formal proposals for budget cuts have been made. All reduction possibilities will be reviewed and prioritized before being brought to the board for deliberation, Womack said. Any potential budget cuts will be focused as far away from the classroom as possible, he said.

The cost of raises is contributing to the $21.9 million shortfall expected in fiscal year 2024-25. The district will explore revenue generating opportunities in the next year to offset the size of its shortfall, said Dennis Womack, assistant super- intendent of business, operations and technology. This includes: • Increasing attendance rates back to 96% • Utilizing grant and scholarship opportunities • Exploring extracurricular or transportation fees Potential budget reduction measures that will be explored include:

District officials remain optimistic the Texas legislature will provide additional funding to schools in the January 2025 legislative session. The district will continue to work through financial challenges and develop long-term, sustainable contingencies for the budget, he said. “We don’t want to ... erode the quality of the education experience that we provide,” Womack said.

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