   |
 |
ECSID Trustees Vote Yes To Pay Raises For Employees
ECSID Trustees Vote Yes To Pay Raises For Employees 7/23/12
fbolton@cbs7.com
CBS 7 News Reporter
7/23/12
Odessa, TX – Today the ECISD trustees unanimously voted yes for the newly proposed 2012-13 salary schedules, which will increase pay for ECISD employees.
"We think this is fair and we can afford it this year. Everybody worked really hard this past year and this is a way to show that we really appreciate it," stated board member Tom Pace.
The school district had an increase in enrollment and mineral wealth this year. These two factors helped provide more money for the ECISD budget, unlike the cuts they were forced to make last year.
"We have been unable to give a pay raise last year due to the state budget short fall and this year there's been some changes. We work very diligently to keep cost down," said ECISD superintendent Hector Mendez.
The proposal will give those employees on the teacher salary schedule (nurses, librarians, media specials, teachers and academic counsels) a $500 step increase plus a $1,000 increase.
There will also be a one-year $2,000 retention incentive for everyone on the teacher salary schedule. For all other employees in the district, they will receive a 3% pay raise.
"Now what we're saying is that we are going to give a 1 time $2,000 incentive because we want to keep teachers here. We want to attract them and that's where the $2,000 comes in … and it put us ahead of our sister city to the east of us," said ECISD superintendent Hector Mendez.
They stated this pay increase is making the school district more competitive for retaining and recruiting employees for the upcoming year.
"[We] try to help keep the incentive of the teachers to be able to hold on to the teachers and work with the salaries…to make it very presentable to them, current ones and teachers that will be coming in," said ECISD board president, Ray Beaty.
The budget wont be finalized until later on this summer. The ECISD superintendent said they aren’t expecting to make any major cuts but this is all dependeding on the next legislative session.