OVER EMPLOYEE RAISES District employees have received raises each year for the past decade. With stipends, raises for 2022-23 amount to about 3.9% raises for teachers and 12% raises for hourly workers. SOURCE: CY FAIR ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER THE YEARS
HEALTH INSURANCE RATES DECREASE Texas teachers will not see an increase in health insurance premiums in 2022-23 for the rst time in several years because of a state contribution of federal COVID-19 relief funding. ActiveCare 1 HD
Year
Teachers Paraprofessionals and hourly sta
Administration
2013-14 3% 3.5% 2014-15 $2,600 3.25% 2015-16 $2,000 5% 2016-17 2% 3%
3%
3.25%
ActiveCare Primary Introduced in 2020-21, this plan has the lowest premiums and requires copays for doctor visits before meeting the deductible. ActiveCare Primary+
Compatible with a health savings account, enrollees must meet deductibles before nonpreventive care is covered. ActiveCare Select/ Whole Health
4% 2%
2017-18 3% 3%
3%
2018-19 3% 3%
3%
This plan was removed after 2019-20. It o ered a middle- range premium and required copays for most visits. ActiveCare 2 This plan is closed to new enrollees. It o ers a lower deductible but requires copays for many services and drugs. Introduced in 2020-21, this plan has a higher premium than other plans but a lower deductible. Copays are required for many services and drugs.
2019-20 3%-3.5% and $1,000 increase 2020-21 1% and $1,000 increase
3% and $500 increase
3% and $500 increase
1% and $500 increase
1% and $500 increase
2021-22 5% 5% and $1,000 stipend
5%
$0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800
2022-23 2% and $1,000 stipend
2% and $2,000 stipend
2% and $1,000 stipend
$775
Health insurance premiums will not increase in 2022-23.
CONTINUED FROM 1
“IF I COULD, I WOULD GIVE OUR TEACHERS A 10% PAY INCREASE BECAUSE WE KNOW ... HOW HARD YOU WORK AND CAN SAY WITH CERTAINTY THAT YOU HAVE EARNED IT, BUT TO DO SO WOULD BE FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE BY US TO DO THAT.” DEBBIE BLACKSHEAR, CY FAIR ISD TRUSTEE
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signi cant raises, but state funding levels restricted the district. “If I could, I would give our teachers a 10% pay increase because we know ... how hard you work and can say with certainty that you have earned it, but to do so would be scally irre- sponsible by us to do that,” she said. The $1.16 billion budget includes a $109 million de cit with state aid making up 40.7% of revenue and local property taxes making up 56.9% of revenue. However, Superintendent Mark Henry said federal stimulus funding is expected to make up the di erence for the district to maintain a balanced budget. Employees received larger raises in 2021-22—5% for all sta plus a $1,000 stipend for hourly employees—but dis- trict o cials are already preparing for budget cuts in 2023-24 when federal stimulus funding is no longer available. Chief Financial O cer Karen Smith said as local property tax revenue increases with growing property val- ues, the state decreases its nancial support for districts. Other factors in uencing the budget included stu- dent enrollment, recruitment and retention challenges, and in ation. Smith called the 2022-23 plans a “transition budget” and urged the community to ask state legislators to increase the per-pupil allotment and to consider the e ects of in ation when determining how much fund- ing public schools receive. “The state is always leveling us back out,” she said. “We basically get a certain amount of revenue per pupil, and as our property values increase, they will decrease our state funding.
$265
$170
2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
*RATES SHOWN INCLUDE EMPLOYEE RATES AFTER DISTRICT AND STATE CONTRIBUTIONS. SOURCES: TEACHER RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF TEXAS, CY FAIR ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
The only way for a school district to really get additional funding is if your enrollment goes up or your average daily attendance.” Chandra Villanueva, economic opportunity program director at leg- islative advocacy nonpro t Every Texan, said state leaders have done little to improve school nance for- mulas as frustrated teachers look to leave the profession. “Quite frankly, our school nance system is beyond inadequate to pro- vide a high quality of education, and the Legislature is not making the needed investments that we need to support our teachers in schools,” she said. Compensating sta In addition to raises for existing sta , CFISD also increased the start- ing teacher salary to $60,500 in 2022- 23, up from $58,500 in 2021-22. Smith said this move along with across-the- board 2% raises will cost the district about $18.2 million. According to Smith, neighboring dis- tricts of Klein, Tomball and Katy ISDs are CFISD’s main competitors when it comes to sta recruitment. These dis- tricts have planned for starting teacher
salaries of $60,000, $57,500 and $60,700, respectively, she said. Nikki Cowart, president of the local teacher’s union Cy-Fair American Fed- eration of Teachers, said she believes while CFISD has satisfactory starting salaries, more experienced teach- ers have been neglected. The union requested 7% raises, paid bereave- ment leave days, additional pay for teachers covering other classes and stipends for bilingual employees who serve as translators. “We know that there are over 20 school districts in Harris County alone, and we’re all vying for the same workforce,” she said ahead of the June 13 budget approval. When factoring in stipends, hourly workers will see a 12% salary increase on average in 2022-23 while instruc- tional paraprofessionals and teach- ers will see 11.1% and 3.9% average increases, respectively, according to district data. Executive leader- ship will see the smallest percentage increase at about 2.6%. The cost of the stipends will be about $22.7 million. Substitute teachers will see a nearly 20% pay increase from $92 per day to $110 per day, for a total cost of $4.2 million. Another $15 million was
set aside to hire additional educators to accommodate district growth. Chairita Franklin, assistant superin- tendent of human resources, said while some turnover is typical in CFISD, res- ignations are up about 20% this year. “Just like all the school districts across the state, people are leaving the profession and transitioning,” Franklin said. Meeting additional needs Following preliminary budget dis- cussions in May, Henry said district leadership met with principals to hear their priorities. One suggestion that resulted from those conversations was the hiring of a behavioral interventionist or testing coordinator for each elementary and middle school campus based on each school’s needs. It will cost the district about $6 million to ll these 76 roles, which are designed to help with disci- pline issues and reduce the workload of school counselors, o cials said. Trustee Lucas Scanlon said he believes investing in these new positions will have more value than using that $6 million for larger salary increases. “When I’ve spoken to teachers,
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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