County Schools Consider New Pay Scale

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the May 4 working session of the Franklin County School Board, Assistant Superintendant Linda Foster presented a revised pay scale for teachers and principals to remedy the erratic pay schedule currently in place. The board also discussed the projected budget shortfall and changing the corporal punishment policy.

Under the present pay schedule, a teacher’s annual raise can vary from more than $1,000 to zero, Foster said. Foster proposed certified instructors receive a 1 percent increase in their base starting salary after the first year, a 2 percent increase after the second year, etc. After 12 years, a teacher would receive a 1.5 percent increase. Teachers qualifying as educational specialists (those earning additional training beyond a master’s degree) would receive a $3,000 bonus after five years.

Foster also proposed increasing the starting salary to $37,000 for teachers with a bachelor’s degree (current starting salary, $34,635) and $40,000 for teachers with a master’s degree (currently $37,554).

For the 2015–16 academic year, the school system will receive $550,000 from the state earmarked for salary increases and another $123,000 designated for the salary equity fund, Foster said. The salary increases for certified employees would cost $470,000. Foster also recommended an across-the-board 2 percent salary increase for classified employees and non-instructional staff. The raise for classified employees would leave $413,000 to fund the proposed raise for certified employees.

Foster said the shortfall would likely be made up by loss of teachers through attrition and lower paid new teachers replacing retiring teachers.

“Everyone would receive a raise,” Foster said. Teachers already in the system would have their salaries adjusted to fit the new model.

Board member Sara Liechty said she would like to see the revised pay schedule recognize teachers who advanced to the level of a doctorate degree. Liechty also asked for information about the starting teacher’s salary at other schools in south central Tennessee. “They are our competition for the brightest and best.”

Foster said an incentive for teachers earning a doctorate degree could be built into the schedule. Foster will research starting teacher salaries in other area school systems.

Revisiting the proposed 2015–16 budget, board chair Kevin Caroland again expressed concern that the $1.6 million revenue shortfall would require drawing on the reserve fund balance, reducing it to $2,771,000. State law requires maintaining a fund balance of $1,200,000, 3 percent of the operating budget.

At the April 28 meeting of the school board with the Franklin County Commission, the commission asked what would help remedy the financial situation.

“We need to come back with something specific,” said board member Adam Tucker of Sewanee. Tucker suggested the board prepare a four-to-five year forecast to present to the commission to justify a request for increased funding.

Director of Schools Rebecca Sharber will prepare the forecast for the board’s June working session.

Proposing a revision to the corporal punishment policy, Tucker recommended the following language be included: “Corporal punishment shall be administered against a student only if the school has a consent form signed by the student’s parent or guardian.”

Inappropriate student behavior of the kind addressed by corporal punishment was usually a sign of underlying problems, Liechty said. “Thirty-one states don’t allow corporal punishment.”

“It works in some cases,” school board member Chris Guess said, adding that school professionals, such as teachers and principals, needed to determine which cases those were.

“I hate to take a tool out of the arsenal,” Caroland said. Caroland wanted school principals’ input before making a decision and information on effective disciplinary alternatives.

Sharber will invite the principals to the June working session. The next regular meeting of the board is scheduled for May 11.