Richardson Edition | May 2024

Education

BY KEVIN CUMMINGS

BY COLBY FARR

Richardson ISD trustees approve teacher, sta salary raises

Ocials seek federal funds for highway congestion relief

North Texas ocials hope to launch a federally funded pilot program to help relieve congestion along several corridors in the region. What’s happening? The North Central Texas Council of Govern- ments intends to apply for a federal grant after action from the Regional Transportation Council during an April 11 meeting. If awarded, the grant funds would be used to create a smartphone application that would oer incentives to change travel behavior on the following corridors: US 75, I-635E, I-35W, I-35E and I-30 The council will apply for $20 million in federal grant money to fund the project and will use transportation development credits to meet the nonfederal match requirement. A closer look For the project, sta selected congested corri- dors in the region that have other transit modes

Amid ongoing budget discussion for scal year 2024-25, the Richardson ISD board of trustees passed a new compensation plan for the upcoming school year during a May 2 meeting that leaders said they hope will make the district more competitive at attracting and retaining talent. “If we’re going to call teaching a profession, let’s treat teachers like professionals, and let’s pay them like professionals,” trustee Chris Poteet said at the meeting. “It’s an important profession to each and every one of us for the future of our community, our state, our nation.” In a nutshell The starting salary for a new teacher with no experience is $60,000, which is lower than some other districts in the area. Under the new compensation plan for the 2024- 25 school year, the starting salary for new teach- ers will be $61,000, making it higher than districts

such as Plano, Denton and Lewisville ISDs. Instead of a traditional compensation structure that increases pay by a certain percentage for each year of experience, the new plan provides a $500 salary increase for each year of experience below 10 years and a $1,000 salary increase for each year above that for teaching sta, which includes nurses, counselors and librarians. In addition, many other nonteaching sta would see a 3% pay increase, and custodial sta would have a starting pay of $15 per hour. Overall, the newly adopted plan is expected to cost RISD about $18 million annually. The context Addressing compensation packages is one of a number of proposals aimed at helping the district prioritize budget resources and addressing an up to $28 million shortfall in FY 2024-25. “The need to become and remain competitive for top teachers and sta ... is the primary reason

available for people to shift to, Senior Program Manager Natalie Bettger said. The proposed smartphone application would oer incentives for people to change their method of travel, such as shifting to public transit. “We think using these corridors gives us an opportunity to get people to shift out of driving by themselves ... or possibly shift the time of day in which they’re traveling,” she said. The proposed app would focus on incentivizing shifts to transit vehicles that travel in managed lanes or shifts to what time a person travels, according to the sta presentation. With the app, sta from the council can verify whether users switch their method or time of travel to outside peak hours, Bettger said. “There’s a lot of exibility by using that type of technology in terms of what facilities we want to focus on [and] what types of incentives we want to oer,” she said.

Pay comparison Under the new plan, trustees hope to make RISD more competitive in terms of teacher salaries.

District

Starting salary for new hires

Richardson ISD

$61,000

Denton ISD

$59,340

The council aims to use federal grant funding to pilot a program meant to reduce congestion.

Allen ISD

$59,500

COLBY FARRCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Dallas ISD

$61,000

Lewisville ISD

$60,850

"Think of this as just the pilot corridors that have the best chance of winning. If we’re successful in these corridors, then I would take it to all the corridors." MICHAEL MORRIS, TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR

SOURCE: RICHARDSON ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

we have had to be so aggressive in cost reduc- tions and maximizing our operating eciencies,” Superintendent Tabitha Branum said in a news release.

DALLAS 9500 North Central Expressway (214) 369-2800 ADDISON 15055 Inwood Road (972) 239-5891