Clay County Schools Looking to Update How Teachers Get Raises

Clay County Schools could be updating the way they give Teachers pay raises next school year.

This was discussed at Thursday’s Board of Education Planning meeting. Financial Director Ashley White said that she believes the school system will need to change from percentage-based raises to dollar-amount raises soon.

“Typically in the past, we have always stuck with percentage rate increases,” White said. “I do not think we will be able to keep doing that. So we talked to some other systems, and it seems like everybody is moving away from percentage rate increases, that they are moving to a dollar amount increase.”

White said a $2,500 pay raise is built into this year’s budget. She said that would cost the school system $263,000.

“The idea with that $2,500 would be to spread it out over 4 years,” White said. “25, 25, 25, 25, to get to 50.”

White included what percentage increases would cost the school system to show why she recommended the board go with dollar-amount increases instead.

“To do a $2500 raise across the board is like giving a 6.25 percent increase if you’re doing it based off that BS (Base Salary) and zero,” White said. “So that 396 versus that 300, that $96,000 is what you’re saving by just giving $2500 across the board.”

White said she believed Overton was planning on also going with a $2,500 raise, and Pickett was planning on a $2,000 raise. She said she expected other surrounding counting to go with larger raises up to $7,000