SPRINGDALE -- Teacher salaries will get an extra bump in their pay, based on changes approved to the School District's salary schedule.
The Springdale School Board on Tuesday night voted 5-0 to approve a $250 increase in pay that be paid in a lump sum for the 2016-17 school year and will carry into the 2017-18 school year, said Kelly Hayes, the district's comptroller.
Springdale base beginning teacher and principal salaries
CategoryOldNew
Bachelor’s degree$47,016$47,266
Master’s degree$49,540$49,790
Education specialist$53,328$53,578
Source: Springdale School District
The increase will raise all salaries in the schedule for certified staff, Hayes said. The beginning salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience will go up to $47,266, from $47,016, while the top salary for a teacher with a doctorate will increase to $75,766, from $75,516.
The School Board also approved a 0.43 percent increase for all classified staff salary schedules, Hayes said. The percentage is based on the average percentage increase for certified staff. Teachers and school administrators make up the certified staff, while all other staff are classified.
The "step" increase already built into salary schedules annually costs the district $2.2 million, and the increase will cost another $800,000, Hayes said.
The $250 is in addition to the annual increase of roughly $684 already in the salary schedule. The schedule provides teachers more pay for each year of experience and with more education, including for a master's degree or education specialist degree, Hayes said.
The combined raise of $934 amounts to a 1.5 percent increase in salary, School Board member Mike Luttrell commented. The amount is greater than the 1 percent increase the district will receive in the 2017-18 school year in the per-pupil money the state provides for the education of every student.
"We're exceeding. What we're looking to approve is above what the state is giving back to us," Luttrell said before to the vote.
School Board Secretary Kevin Ownbey and member Danny Dotson were absent from the meeting.
The proposal was unanimously approved by the Springdale Education Association and by the Personnel Policy Committee prior to going to the School Board, Hayes said. Teachers will receive a lump sum payment of $250 this month.
"We're excited about it," said Corrie Tucker, president of the Springdale Education Association. Tucker teaches at Young Elementary School.
Tucker also was pleased by additional salary changes for other staff, including bus drivers.
The School Board approved changing the hourly rate paid to bus drivers for shuttles and field trips from $9 to $10 an hour and a new incentive program for bus drivers.
The incentive program promotes safety and attendance, Hayes said. Bus drivers will be eligible for monthly incentives for having no accidents for which they are at fault, for perfect attendance and for no disciplinary write-ups, Hayes said. If they're eligible for the monthly incentive for an entire year, the amount would total $500.
Hayes hopes the savings from not hiring substitute bus drivers will offset the cost of the incentive program.
NW News on 06/14/2017