EDUCATION BRIEFS
News from Leander ISD
QUOTE OF NOTE
School board approves compensation increases for 2022 23 school year
Leander ISD board of trustees Meets June 13 and 23 at 6:15 p.m. at 300 W. South St., Leander 512-570-0000 www.leanderisd.org Austin Community College board of trustees Meets June 20 and July 5 at 3 p.m. at 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Room 201, Austin 512-223-7000 • www.austincc.edu MEETINGS WE COVER $34.9 million, according to district documents. On June 23, the board will approve the nal budget for the general fund, debt service fund and child nutrition fund. estimates show roughly $29.01 million on a $0.05 rate increase or $36.21 million on a $0.09 increase for the 2022-23 year. LEANDER ISD The proposed 2022- 23 general fund budget shows a $5 million decit. This is based on the revenue with $0.09 tax rate increase as a result of a successful voter-approval tax rate election in November as well as the current $0.05 increase. Salary increases are included in this budget. The proposed budget for the next scal year also takes into account if the VATRE fails in November, making the revenue from the nine additional pennies inaccessible. If this happens, the $5 million budget shortfall would then grow to HIGHLIGHTS LEANDER ISD The district received the 2022 estimates of property value from the Williamson County Appraisal District and the Travis Central Appraisal District at the end of April. LISD’s overall estimated freeze-adjusted property value is projected to be roughly $38.4 billion, which is a 29.94% increase from last year’s certied net freeze, according to district documents. The rising property values will cause the district to pay recapture again, but the amount will not be certain until the end of the scal year. As of now, recapture payment “AT THAT 2% PAY INCREASE, WE ARE BELOW MARKET, AND WE CAN’T BE BELOW MARKET … OR WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP THOSE EDUCATORS THAT WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON.” GLORIA GONZALESDHOLAKIA, LEANDER ISD BOARD MEMBER
PRIORITIZING PAY
BY ZACHARIA WASHINGTON
LEANDER ISD After months of discussion, the Leander ISD board of trustees approved the 2022-23 compensation plan at its May 19 board meeting. The approved 2022-23 compen- sation plan outlined the following terms: a $15 minimum hourly rate; a 5% increase at midpoint for teachers, nurses and counselors; a 4% increase at midpoint for all other eligible sta ; and the use of the LISD fund balance, if necessary, to pay for the 2022-23 total compensation plan. With the 4% and 5% salary increases for teachers and other employees, LISD would be looking at $18.8 million in total compensation plan costs. The board also approved a one- time lump sum retention payment. That payment amount will be deter- mined in future board meetings. The compensation plan for the 2022-23 school year and the one-time payment was approved by a 5-2 vote. The plan the board approved strayed from the initial recommen- dations, which included a 2% of midpoint across-the-board base salary increase to all regular employ- ees, including teachers. Additionally, the initial recommen- dations proposed an additional 3% salary increase for teachers and an additional 2% salary increase for all other employees, contingent on the board approving an increased scal year 2022-23 tax rate of nine more pennies and voters ratifying the 2022- 23 tax rates in the November election. LISD is expecting to hold a voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE, on Nov. 8, which could provide LISD at least $20 million in revenue if approved by voters. Board members Aaron Johnson and Elexis Grimes, who voted against the compensation plan, both expressed concerns about the risks associated with 4% and 5% salary increases, even if the VATRE does not pass. “If we commit the full raise and the VATRE doesn’t pass, what’s the future? I don’t know. Have we bet the farm on the VATRE? I’m not com- fortable doing that,” Johnson said at the May 19 meeting. “If we approach
The Leander ISD board of trustees approved compensation increases for district sta
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this with a more modest initial raise and the VATRE doesn’t pass, still a bad situation, but we haven’t lost the farm—we can still recover.” In May, LISD conducted three listen- ing sessions with district sta about the proposed compensation plan. During the listening sessions, dis- trict sta expressed concern on how to retain LISD’s existing quality sta , signing a contract without knowing whether the VATRE will pass and how the district will e ectively communicate about the VATRE. “Between those emails, citizen comments [and] personal discussions, it was just very clear that 2%, just of an initial 2%, was just not going to work,” Board Member Sade Fashokun said at the meeting. “[Teachers] have given so much, and then now we’re asking them to possibly wait for a VATRE; it’s just too much.” Trustees also discussed other ways the district can support sta ahead of the VATRE. The board discussed a one-time payment out of the scal year 2021-22 budget, putting LISD in a decit, which would reduce the starting fund balance for next year. during its May 19 meeting. Initial recommendations proposed a 2% midpoint increase for all employees with an additional 3% increase for teachers and 2% increase for all other sta, contingent on the passage of a higher tax rate and voter-approval tax rate election. $15 minimum hourly rate APPROVED PLAN 5% midpoint increase for teachers, nurses and counselors $115 per day substitute rate 4% midpoint increase for all other eligible sta One-time lump sum retention payment (amount to be determined at a future date) SOURCE: LEANDER ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
11005 Spicewood Pkwy, Austin, TX 78750 $1,500,000 6Bed 5Bath 4,333 SQFT Steven Ross (512) 814-5926
Pending
3805 Deep Pocket Dr, Leander, TX 78641 $1,595,000 5Bed 6Bath 4,246 SQFT Shelly Kelly (512) 567-5955
Pending
300 Walkup Ln, Leander, TX 78641 $599,999 5Bed 3Bath 2,764 SQFT Chris Deel (512) 999-1049
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CEDAR PARK LEANDER EDITION • JUNE 2022
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