Spring Branch ISD approves district-wide pay raises for next year

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Spring Branch Independent School District approved a district-wide pay increase for the 2017-18 school year at a May 30 school board meeting, which means the district will have to reach into its own budget to fund the $9 million it will take to cover the raises as the recently wrapped 85th session of the Texas Legislature did not set aside any new money for school districts.

In fact, the district will receive $400 less per student next year in state funding after recapture payments are accounted for. Recapture is the so-called "Robin Hood" plan that takes money from property-rich school districts and diverts it to lower-income districts.

"Our board has made taking care of our employees their number one priority," said Linda H. Buchman, community relations officer for Spring Branch Independent School District. "Our board was very concerned we could not approve an increase last year. That's very troubling to all of us in the leadership team and our board."

The $9 million will be shifted from other areas of the budget to pay for the $1,950 per teacher, per year increase and a 1 or 3 percent increase of midpoint salaries for all other positions. A fund that gave employees a 2 percent supplemental income will be converted to salaries, $2.5 million will be redirected from a reserve fund for the increase and the district will decrease its medical contribution by $2.5 million.

Karen Wilson, associate superintendent for finance with Spring Branch ISD said that individual contributions to Teachers Retirement Services Active Care Medical Plan will necessarily be increased due to the district's move to shift its contribution dollars to salaries.

In district documents that outline the new compensation plan, it reflects that an employee under the Active Care 2 plan (the plan with the most enrolled employees compared to the 1 HD and the Select Plan) a single individual who contributed $181 per period in the 2016-17 school year will contribute $281 per period starting in the 2017-18 year, under the presumption that TRS doesn't change these plan costs.

District contributions under the same plan in the example would decrease by $100.

District officials feel they are still maintaining a competitive benefits package even in light of an increase in employee responsibility. Where they felt they were not as competitive was in salaries.

"In order to stay competitive, the board initiated a study last year to compare SBISD to neighboring districts to see how they stacked up," said Buchman.

They found that one of the areas was teacher salaries. For example, a first-year teacher will now start out at $52,000 per year in the 2017-18 school year as opposed to $50,000 last year.

"We've been exceedingly impacted by recapture and there was a significant increase (in recapture payments), and our teachers are the backbone of the school district," she said. "Our employees are critical. You can only ask your employees to bear the burden and weight of the state funding model for so long."

The state funding model is something Spring Branch ISD has been outspoken critics of at the capital over this legislative session.

"Public school districts and SBISD received no financial relief from the Texas Legislature, which passed a state budget that relies on some $1.8 billion in local property taxes to fund public education, including $77 million in recapture from SBISD next year alone," said Dr. Scott Muri, Spring Branch ISD superintendent of schools.

"Still, we look forward to the special session in July and are hopeful that the Legislature will make investing in the education of our children its top priority. If the state of Texas paid its fair share and relied less on locally generated revenue to finance schools, SBISD could continue to provide competitive pay packages to our employees while lowering the tax burden on our community."