Round Rock ISD school board approves pay raise for all employees

Teacher pay raises have been on the mind for many school districts.

"That will be pending our board members and also eventually our voters approving a VATRE, which is a tax ratification election rate," says Round Rock ISD superintendent Dr. Hafedh Azaiez.

During a school board meeting, Eddie Curran, the Round Rock ISD chief of human resources officer, sat down and discussed the 2023-24 compensation plan with the board.

"So, the 3 percent general pay increase what is really important to note is when we talk about 3 percent pay increase there's sometimes a misconception with employees they look at that and say that’s 3 percent of my base salary, and it's not it is a general increase across the board," said Curran.

During the public comment forum, members of the community were able to voice their concerns on the budget plan for the upcoming school year.

"It feels like a slap in the face, and it feels insulting to take on leadership roles and I feel like in the past year we had to fight for compensation," says a Round Rock ISD educator.

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Last year, the school district approved a 5 percent pay raise for teachers. As the cost of living keeps going up, Round Rock ISD is working on ways to attract teachers.

"Our board has been very supportive of all of us really providing better compensation for our teachers," says Dr. Azaiez.

There are several options the school district has to look on.

  • Option 1a will adopt a 3 percent pay raise for teachers and librarians.
  • Option 1b will adopt a 2 percent pay increase for all employees.

"But obviously, anything we are dissent or anything we want to do is really to provide, again, an increase in compensation for teachers and staff, too, so we can keep our great teachers here and also help them with the increase in inflation," says Dr. Azaiez.

The school board voted to approve the 3 percent raise for teachers and librarians. All other employees will receive a 2 percent general pay increase based on the midpoint rate of the pay grade in which their position is grouped. This ensures that all employees within a particular pay grade receive an equal pay increase.

The superintendent is also looking at ways to increase the pay bump by 6 percent, which will be discussed next month when the board will be making a vote on the budget plan.