A suburban Austin public school district’s trustees voted on Thursday to give its employees across the board a pay raise.
Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that the Round Rock Independent School District (RRISD) Board of Trustees approved the district’s 2023-24 school year compensation plan, which includes salary increases.
According to the station, teachers and librarians will receive a 3% general pay hike, which is based on the median annual teacher salary of $58,467, while a 2% general pay increase will be given to all other employees that are based on the midpoint rate of the pay grade their position is a part of.
“This ensures that all employees within a particular pay grade receive an equal pay increase,” RRISD said in a press release.
Austin FOX affiliate KTBC reported that the estimated cost of the salary bump for teachers and librarians is $5.9 million.
Per KTBC, the move came a year after the district approved a 5% pay raise in response to rising costs of living in the state capital and surrounding areas.
RRISD also seeks to draw interest from prospective teachers in addition to keeping the ones it already employs.
“Our board has been very supportive of providing better compensation for our teachers,” Superintendent Dr. Hafedh Azaiez told the station.
The trustees additionally looked at calling for a voter-approved tax rate election (VATRE) in the fall.
KXAN reported that upon voter approval, the VATRE would let the district boost staff pay further and offset other financial negatives by allowing additional local revenue to be generated for the district’s operations budget.
Per RRISD, voters will have a say when it comes to the tax rate approved by the school board.
“If approved, the VATRE would inject approximately $21 million annually into the district’s operating budget,” officials said in the release. “Approximately 88% of the district’s operations budget is dedicated to staff salaries.”
