June 17, 2010 Consultation Meeting

Salary Schedules for the 2010-2011 School Year.

There will be no change in the salary schedules for the coming year. The only employees who will be receiving a raise are those who are eligible for step increase. HISD stated there is no money available to improve the salary schedules, even for the lowest paid employees. This statement is simply untrue. The administration is proposing a budget of $1,563,380,761. A budget of better than $1.56 billion is very large. It is not a matter of not having money, it is a matter of choosing not to spend some of that money on employee pay increases. Had it not been for legislation passed in 2009 mandating that districts honor the step increases in their salary schedules it is unlikely that HISD would even grant the step increases. It is important that we work hard in the next legislative session to make sure that districts are required to honor all step increases in their salary schedules. As it stands the step increases will cost HISD $7,384,743. The district will advertise this as an average raise of 1.09%. Remember, unless you are eligible for an experience step increase, you will receive no raise this coming year.

The district has chosen not to grant raises claiming a lack of money. One place within the proposed budget where HISD could find money is ASPIRE. HISD is budgeting $29.5 million in local funds for ASPIRE. The board does consider this to be part of the overall employee compensation package even though only about half of the employees will receive money. HFT has long advocated that this money be added to the salary structure. We estimate that $29.5 million will fund a 3% pay raise for all non-administrative employees.

Highlights of the salary schedule from agenda item A-2 of the June 24, 2010 meeting of the school board:

All staff are paid on one of the following salary schedules:

• Teacher Salary Schedule (includes teachers nurses, counselors, librarians, evaluation specialists, and speech therapists)
• Principal and Assistant Principal Salary Schedule
• Master Salary Schedule (includes employees on the master schedule plus bus drivers, food service employees, associate teachers, and hourly personnel)
  
  The proposed changes include:
• Teacher Salary Schedule – one-year experience increase based on 2010-2011 step schedule; this move results in an average increase of 1.09 percent or an expenditure of $7,384,743 (HISD is claiming an average wage increase implying everyone receives something. Remember it is not true.)
• Principal and Assistant Principal Salary Schedule
• Principal – Adjust years of experience up one year; no salary increase is planned for employees on the Principal Salary Schedule.
• Assistant Principal/Dean - Adjust years of experience up one year; no salary increase is planned for employees on the Assistant Principal/Dean Salary Schedule.
  
  Recommended District Budget for 2010-2011
  
  The district is recommending a budget of $1,563,380,761. Along with the $7,384,743 appropriate to fund the step increases the district is also budgeting $10,000,000 to cover projected increases in health insurance. There will be a significant change in the health insurance plans offered next year but the final decisions have not yet been made. District representatives stated the $10 million should be sufficient to cover any increase so there will be no added cost for employees.
  
  Federal stimulus dollars are not included in the regular budget. The district has not yet requested all of the money that is available.
  
  Code of Student Conduct
  
  The code is mostly unchanged except for language changes to accommodate the administrative structure changed caused by the elimination of the Regional Offices. The main substantive changes are the sending of truant students to a DAEP and the procedures for releasing a student from a DAEP.