LISD board to vote Monday on compensation model, raises

Not only is Lewisville ISD set to offer employees a pay increase in the upcoming fiscal year, but the district plans to use a new way to determine what that increase will be.

During a board of trustees workshop Wednesday, Ann Patton, a consultant for Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), discussed alternatives to LISD’s compensation model.

Patton described the district’s current plan as unmanageable, noting that it has 156 pay bands, a varying number of pay steps in each pay grade that are not based on experience and that it is not market based.

Instead, she recommends a more simplified structure.

Under the proposed model, which the board will consider at Monday’s meeting, all employees would receive a compensation increase of 3 percent above the salary midpoint of every job category.

For teachers, that means a starting salary for new hires of $47,500 for 10 months. Now, the district is paying $45,000.

Continuing teachers would receive $1,600 added to their 2011-12 salary, up to a maximum base salary of $69,000 for 10 months. Teachers who are above the base salary limit would likely receive an increase of $500.

The plan is aimed to simplify the existing structure in which teachers have 40 pay steps.

Teachers with master’s degrees would receive a flat stipend of $1,000, though existing teachers with a master’s degree who already receive more than $1,000 would be allowed to maintain that level.

Other employees would have a slightly different system but would still follow the system of receiving 3 percent above the median salary for that particular group.

Administrators and professionals, for example, would have 11 groups, or pay grades, such as principals, assistant principals, etc.

Administrative support would have nine pay grades, auxiliary and information technology employees would have eight and instructional support employees would have six.

Employees in the same pay grade would receive the same dollar amount increase.

Also, employees would be paid at least the minimum of the assigned pay range.

Currently, employees are given a 3-percent pay increase, but it’s rolled into a step increase.

Administrators seemed to favor the new plan, particularly because each salary schedule will have a maximum limit.

“The way it is now, there is no stopping the step increases,” said Dr. Lynda Haynes, associate superintendent for staff and community relations. “It’s there, and it keeps multiplying itself, and there is no way to stop it. We need a disciplined structure to control the movement of funds. We’re not denying raises with this new plan, we’re just tightening the ship.”

District officials said providing the pay increase but with a more controlled structure would enable the district to hire more teachers who have several years of experience.

In the 2011-12 school year, 71 percent of the district’s new hires for teachers, nurses and librarians had zero to three years of experience.

“Over time, this will help us control costs and stay competitive,” said Dr. Stephen Waddell, superintendent.

Currently, LISD’s salary for teachers with zero to five years experience is $45,000, which ranks it 17th out of the 20 districts TASB used in its comparison, mostly consisting of North Texas districts.

Should LISD adopt the new model with the higher pay rate, it would put the district among the top five in the comparison list, just ahead of Coppell ISD ($47,000) and just behind Mansfield ISD ($48,000).

Haynes said the new model also makes employee pay more balanced.

“Under our current system, our pay steps are uneven,” Haynes said. “But with pay discipline, this allows you to make sure you pay the employees equally across all pay grades.”

Patton said the proposed salary increase schedule will cost the district $8.9 million.

“If we don’t put this in place but provide flat 3-percent increases, we’d be spending between $9 million and $10 million,” Haynes said. “So we’re already saving money just by implementing this.”

Also at the workshop, Dr. Quentin Burnett, the district’s chief financial officer, briefed the board on the proposed budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

The district’s fund balance for the 2011-12 fiscal year is expected to be $127 million in August. The district is using $6 million from the fund balance to balance the budget, which was adopted last year with a $17.5 million deficit.

Reduced spending, including the decrease of 115 positions, helped balance the budget as well, along with increased state revenue from about 300 more students.

The 2012-13 fund balance is projected to be at or above $105 million, which will include the compensation increases.

Burnett said the lower fund balance projection is a result of less state revenue from property values. He said the district lost $52 million last year, is losing $22 million this year and will likely lose $30 million next year.

“We’re still positive that the district will be ready for the results of whatever the 2013 state legislature does or doesn’t do and on into 2014,” Burnett said. “This allows us to work with our staffing and manage our pay structure while growing our district.”

Waddell said the efforts the district has made to save money allows the district to go forward with the compensation plans despite the uncertainty of the legislature.

Burnett said the district’s projected ending fund balance the last three years has also been $105 million, though each year they finished much higher.

There will be another budget workshop Aug. 6. The board will host a public hearing on Aug. 27 for the budget and the maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate, which is set to remain the same at $1.04 per $100 valuation.

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