News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Jackson County Teachers will be receiving a pay raise in the coming school year.
This was passed in the 2023-24 school Year Budget by the Jackson County Board of Education Thursday. Director of Schools Kristy Brown said the raises were changed from a flat rate to percentage-based in order to reward longevity and give teachers raises based on how long they have been with the school system.
“It’s important that we recruit teachers, and that we are able to bring them in here in our classrooms as new teachers,” Brown said. “But I also think it’s important to be able to retain the ones that we have. And so we have done a percent raise this time because it does help those who have been here longer.
Brown said the salary raises will range between $2,000 and $3,000. She said she is very pleased with what the school board is able to do for their faculty this year because they are the highest raises given in the county in years.
“The largest raise we’ve done in I know over 20 years was last year, and these are a little better than that,” Brown said. “So I’m excited about that.”
Brown said they were also able to give a 5% raise to other noncertified school staff as well.
Brown said the base salary for a teacher with no experience starting out is now $43,200. She said the raises the school board is giving are part of an effort to get starting pay to a minimum of $50,000, which will soon be a state law.
The board also approved the general fund for the 2023-24 school year, which includes a plan to use Innovate School Models grant money to renovate classrooms to be STEM labs and hire CTE teachers. She said the grant money can also be used to offset the cost of a new CTE Learning Center.
“I’m glad we are able to do building projects and things like that, and not have to ask the county to raise taxes or pay the bill,” Brown said.
