News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
DeKalb County teachers, non-certified personnel, and bus drivers will see an increase in their next paycheck.
Director of Schools Patrick Cripps said that the board of education has been working to better compensate employees. He said that the board wants to be able to compete for teachers with the bigger surrounding districts.
“To be competitive we knew we had to do something,” Cripps said. “To one, get teachers in here and two, just reward our teachers that have worked in our district for many years. For their service. To show them that we do appreciate them. And I know money is not everything, but it does help a lot.”
Cripps said that the board didn’t ask for additional money from the county, but has been working hard to build reserves and work within their budget. He said certified personnel will receive a $5,000 increase, non-certified will receive a $3,000 increase, and bus drivers will now start out making $100 a day.
Cripps said that it’s a goal that he and the board have wanted to achieve since coming into office. He said that it’s been a team effort between the schools and the county commissioners.
“It takes the whole county to make something like this happen,” Cripps said. “We’re thankful for our board for supporting the increase in salary, but we also are thankful to the county commission and our county mayor for allowing us to push this through. We didn’t ask for any more money from the county to get these raises. We really worked hard within our budget to build our reserves.”
Cripps said they want to show appreciation to the teachers and staff for all of the hard work they do for the students of DeKalb County.
“I think it’s time we step up and we show that we support our teachers,” Cripps said. “It all starts with a foundation and our educators are that foundation providing that to our students to go out into the world and make this place a better place. And I think it’s important that we pay our teachers and our administrators accordingly.”
The raises passed when the DeKalb County Commissioners passed next year’s budget at their meeting Tuesday night.
