More than 3,420 Ascension Parish public school employees would get across-the-board permanent raises under a $318 million proposed spending plan for next school year.
Full-time teachers and other certificated staff would see a $1,750 salary boost, while support staff would receive a $1,500 increase. The raises would cost $8.1 million, school officials said.
The district has offered one-time raises over the past several years, often matching or running in parallel with one-time state stipends, but the permanent recurring raises would be the first since the 2021-22 fiscal year.
"We recognize the critical importance of recurring pay raises for our teachers and staff, whose dedication and hard work are the foundation of our educational success," Superintendent Edith Walker said in a statement. "We are thankful that the Ascension Parish School Board continues to prioritize compensation for our employees, ensuring they feel valued and supported in their roles."
The budget is in a 30-day public review period and will likely be up for a public hearing and final School Board vote June 25. The new salary schedule, which is also up for review, would implement the raises.
The local increases would come on top of one-time state stipends being considered by the state Legislature and in addition to other pay boosts already built into the salary plan for several categories of workers, including paraprofessionals.
All the salary changes, which would cost a combined $13.9 million per year if approved, come after a survey done for the school system found that the highly rated, fast-growing district was falling behind its regional peers in pay.
The survey, done by consultant Lean Frog, found Ascension's starting annual salary for teachers with a bachelor's degree was $48,783 — middle of the pack among six districts seen as Ascension's primary competitors for teachers but further behind a broader cross-section of districts in the area.
Walker has said that hitting or breaking $50,000 per year for starting pay was an important goal in any increase.
Darby Lambert, Ascension schools' information technology director, told School Board members at their last meeting that the $1,750 permanent raises would break that target threshold, at $50,533 per year for new teachers.
"This was our first objective, to move our base pay up to over $50,000," Lambert said.
The bump would put first-time teacher pay in Ascension schools about $500 ahead of what the Zachary and Central school districts paid this year, according to Lean Frog, but a little behind the first-year teacher pay in West Baton Rouge Parish, which is at $51,033.
The proposed Ascension changes also give about 450 paraprofessionals — employees such as teacher aides and school bus attendants — another $2 per hour in addition to the $1,500 raise for noncertificated employees.
Walker said those changes, along with the creation of new pay level for warehouse workers, are designed to get those employees to at least $15 per hour.
The proposed salary changes also call for improving pay for some other jobs, including the public information officer, senior accountants, some secretaries and high school facility managers. The Lean Frog survey showed several of those positions were behind market rates.
The school system is proposing the pay increases while still trying to keep up with student population growth and fully staff a new high school, which opens this fall in Prairieville.
The district expects to spend another $2.1 million for staff at the new Prairieville High and $2.3 million to add 31 teachers across the district to match the 400 to 500 additional students expected next school year.
