PAY RAISES APPROVED FOR BRENHAM ISD STAFF IN NEWLY ADOPTED BUDGET

  

For the first time in several years, Brenham ISD employees will receive a pay raise through the district’s new budget adopted by trustees on Tuesday.

The general fund budget balances out at $58,272,914, with an additional $3,724,543 in expenses budgeted by the Child Nutrition Department for food service and $3,701,000 in debt service appropriations for a grand total budget of $65,698,457.  Total revenue between the general fund budget, child nutrition fund and debt service fund is estimated at $66,161,109. 

Part of the new budget comes with $1,066,182 in new funding for teachers and staff, primarily driven by new state allotment funding, but not counting what the state is covering for $4,000 and $8,000 teacher pay raises.  That includes:

• An increase from the previous step scale cap of 25 to a 30-step scale, and a step raise for teachers below Step 30;
• A $2,000 raise for teachers on Steps 0, 1 and 2;
• A 3 percent raise for all non-teaching staff;
• The benefits associated with the state’s teacher pay raises.

Chief Financial Officer Darrell St. Clair said creating this budget took a team effort.  Board President Jared Krenek and other trustees thanked St. Clair and the rest of the financial staffers for being able to secure pay increases for employees while maintaining a balanced budget.

The raises are effective immediately and will appear in employees’ first paychecks of the school year.  They are separate from the voter approval tax rate election (VATRE) that will occur this fall, which seeks to increase the tax rate to provide for further raises. 

Superintendent Clay Gillentine acknowledged the trustees for their thorough review and scrutiny that helped shape the final budget proposal.

The district is budgeting for enrollment of 4,782 students and average daily attendance (ADA) of 4,426 students.  ADA is a primary driver of state funding, with a higher ADA leading to more money from the state. 

The adopted tax rate is $0.7684 per $100 valuation, split between $0.6884 for maintenance and operations (M&O) and $0.08 for interest and sinking (I&S).  The new rate is set to be an increase from the past rate of $0.7469 per $100 valuation, which had the same I&S rate but a lower M&O allocation at $0.6669.

Trustees are allowed to take the maximum compressed rate provided by the Texas Education Agency, which is $0.6084 this year, and add up to 5 cents without needing an election.  Another 3 cents can be added if voters approve it, which serves as the basis for the VATRE.  St. Clair said tax compression is the reason why the new tax rate is not a full 3 cents above the previous rate.