Good news is on the horizon for Dublin ISD employees as several increases in pay were approved at the Monday, June 20 school board meeting.
School board trustee Kent Crouch gave his resignation after serving eight years and two months on the board. The board replaced his seat, until the May 2023 election with Blanca Martineau, recently elected as Dublin Chamber of Commerce President.
She is the business development manager at Comanche County Medical Center.
Martineau expressed excitement over her appointment and said she had previously helped out at the school district in St. George, Utah, where she previously lived.
Martineau was the sole nomination for the board appointment and her nomination was made by Pat Leatherwood. It was unanimously approved with Trustees James Moore, Raymond Salinas and Crouch, not being in attendance.
Employees in DISD will get a variety of pay increases, some as early as July. All returning contract teachers will receive a $750 efficiency payment on their July paychecks.
“It’s not a lot, but it’s our way of saying thank you to those who are staying with us,” Superintendent Melissa Summers said.
A compensation plan was also approved with the following changes: Starting pay for food service employees will be $10 an hour, instead of $9.50; custodians will make $10.50 an hour, instead of $10; daycare workers will make $10 an hour, instead of $8.50; campus counselors will receive an annual $7,000 stipend, instead of $1,500; assistant language pathologist will receive an annual $3,000 stipend, instead of a $1,000 stipend; a speech pathologist/ educational diagnostician will receive a $7,000 annual stipend instead of $4,500.
A $1,500 annual stipend was added for campus dyslexia coordinators with additional training and anyone with an active CDL will receive a $1,000 annual stipend. Substitute teacher pay was raised to $12 an hour for those with teacher certifications and $10 an hour for non-certified teachers.
At-Will employees will receive either a 3% raise or 50 cents an hour, whichever is higher.
“We wanted to give the largest increase possible. It’s not enough with inflation but it’s something we would like to do,” Summers said. An administrative raise of 2% was approved.
“Having been over there where you guys have been, outstanding job, I wish we could give you 10%, but you have to understand all those soldiers that are underneath you, we are trying to figure out how to take care of them too,” School Board trustee Bob Cervetto said. “You guys have gone above and beyond. Great job and you guys really rock!”
Contract teachers receive a raise every year through the Step plan through the state and it’s either a 2% or 4% raise, Summers explained. The state stops the Step plan at 20 years but DISD carries it on through 26 years of service.
“We have talked about maybe increasing the efficiency pay in November for next year and maybe implementing a certain amount from year zero to five, and then a little more if you’ve been with us five to 10 years, and then a little more for those 10 to 15 years, just to show them how much we appreciate them,” Summers said. “We have a handful of teachers that have been here for a long time and they are amazing teachers. We aren’t ready to see them go.”
The first round of preliminary STAAR testing results from the most recent test have been received and it’s good news for DISD.
“We are very pleased with what we have so far,” Summers said. So far, end-of-course exams for the high school are 1-25 points above the rest of Region 11 and 8-17 above the state. None of the other categories from the state or Region 11 are available yet.
“These could possibly be the highest I can remember,” 2022 Assistant Superintendent Terri White said.
2021-‘22 Preliminary STAAR/EOC results include the following passing levels:
3 rd grade reading: 95; 3 rd grade math: 97; 4th grade reading: 98; 4th grade math: 94; 5th grade reading: 94; 5 th grade math; 5 th grade science: 87; 6 th grade reading: 87; 6 th grade math: 92; 7 th grade reading: 89; 7 th grade math: 78; 8 th grade reading: 88; 8 th grade math: 82; 8 th grade science: 84; 8 th grade social studies: 67; High school EOC exams Algebra I: 91; English I: 85; English II: 79; Biology: 93 and U.S. History: 97.
Preliminary discussions have begun on next year’s budget including tax rate.
“We will be as low as the state says we can because values have increased significantly,” Business Manager Kassi Eads said.
Fuel and energy prices have already been affecting the district in this fiscal year’s budget.