Teachers and nurses in a Hill Country public school district will soon see increases in their paychecks.
Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District (SMCISD) Board of Trustees approved a 3% pay raise in addition to a longevity plan on Monday.
A district spokesperson told KXAN that the longevity plan is for those who continue to work for SMCISD.
“The longer you stay in San Marcos, we want to take care of you,” communications chief Andrew Fernandez said in the report.
According to the station, the district sees the increases as a recruitment and retention tool as teacher shortages grapple the area and the state as a whole.
Citing Fernandez, KXAN reported that SMCISD seeks to fill 47 vacancies ahead of the 2023-2024 academic year.
The station reported that the district has hired participants who succeeded in its collaborative program with nearby Texas State University, including aspiring fifth-grade teacher Angelina Escalante.
Escalante told KXAN she was hired by the campus where she worked as a student-teacher.
“I know the community,” she said in the report. “I know my staff, my administration and I just feel so comfortable going into my first year.”
SMCISD’s new pay bump comes just as teachers across the Lone Star State have either contemplated leaving or have actually departed the profession.
Citing Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, Lone Star Standard reported last month that numerous studies revealed hundreds of thousands of educators are now in a different career field, with the COVID-19 pandemic having factored significantly to their departures.
A Texas Tribune article reported that an online survey of 1,291 teachers conducted by the nonprofit Charles Butt Foundation showed growing teacher dissatisfaction, per the publication.
The survey involved those on the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) 2020 roster of teachers, with 77% divulging they seriously considered finding other work last year.
“We need for our public schools to not only survive, but thrive and flourish,” Charles Butt Foundation president Shari B. Albright, told The Texas Tribune, Lone Star Standard reported.