DeKalb schools Superintendent Michael Thurmond presented a plan Wednesday night raising salaries for all the district’s staff, saying the district is in a place financially to show more appreciation to staffers.
Under Thurmond’s plan, about $20 million would be used to give out cost-of-living increases for teachers, secretaries, bus drivers, custodians and other staffers raises for the 2015-2016 school year. District staff received a 1 percent cost-of-living increase last year for the first time in seven years, he said.
“We need to compensate our most veteran and highly qualified teachers,”Thurmond said during the DeKalb Board of Education business meeting Wednesday at the district’s headquarters in Stone Mountain. “We have to remain competitive as we bring in and hire new teachers into our system. Great teachers and great principals are important, but if the buses don’t arrive on time, or the children are not returned to home on time, and the food and nutrition staff don’t prepare a wholesome and a nutritious meal … then it’s a challenge to operate a successful school district.”
He said the board had given him several benchmarks — eliminate teacher furlough days, grow the fund balance to ensure sustainability and give teachers a 1-percent cost-of-living increase — to reach as the district worked to turn around a $14 million deficit from the 2012 fiscal year.
Teacher furlough days are long gone, and the district’s fund balance is expected to reach $51 million by the end of the current fiscal year, Thurmond said.
Under the plan, teachers with six or more years of service would get a 4 percent cost-of-living hike, teachers with up to five years of experience would receive 3 percent, and other district staff would receive 2 percent increases.
“It doesn’t fix everything, but it’s a major start,” Board Member Joyce Morley said of Thurmond’s plan. “It shows (the teachers and other staff) we care and recognize what they’re saying. I commend the board for showing appreciation for district employees.”
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