Mission, Texas- The Mission Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) Board of Trustees has approved a generous compensation plan for the 2022-2023 school year that continues to keep district salaries above market values in the area. When the board hired Dr. Carol G. Perez as the new superintendent four years ago, one of the areas of concern they wanted to work on as a team of eight was to improve upon the compensation paid to district employees and reduce the number of teachers leaving the district. Since accomplishing this goal, the district has continued to focus on trying to provide the best possible salaries and benefits for district employees.
“One of the key elements to holding on to the best staff is to make sure you are providing the best compensation possible,” explained Dr. Perez. “When I was hired, the district pay scales had fallen behind as compared to the area market. Now, after careful planning and budgeting with the board members, we are able to offer our employees salaries that, in most cases, beat the market median.”
In a salary study conducted by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), Mission CISD’s teacher salaries were 6.4% above the market median for the Region One Education Service Center comparison of 25 school districts. The new compensation plan should continue this trend. Other teacher salary schedule adjustments will relieve pay compression between certain years of experience. For more experienced teachers interested in working for Mission CISD, the new compensation plan raises the maximum years of creditable service to 25 years for new hires.
Mission CISD teachers will receive a $2,000 pay increase. Starting salaries for a new teacher to Mission CISD this fall, with no experience, will be $55,500. All other salary schedules are also being adjusted upward. Non-teaching positions will receive a 3.5% salary increase based upon the new midpoint of their salary schedule. A $1,000 retention stipend was also approved for all eligible employees that will be paid out in two, $500 payments (September, December).
“On top of the salary improvements, we are pleased to let our employees know that their health insurance premiums won’t be increasing,” said Dr. Perez. “The Board of Trustees has adopted a budget that allows us to absorb the 18% increases in health insurance premiums this year.”
Dr. Perez expressed the importance of how the compensation plan supports other efforts to continue to improve upon the overall job satisfaction of employees, while also focusing on the three main leadership goals to support academic achievement for students, student attendance, and using a service delivery model designed to provide support and services to students and staff, alike.
“When you bring all of this together, with our goals to also focus on growing our own leaders from within, and supporting personal and professional growth, we are hoping to keep Mission CISD one of the most desirable districts to work for,” explained Dr. Perez.
The district compensation plan was approved by the Board of Trustees during their meeting of June 22, along with the 2022-2023 budget that begins July 1. The current budget is based upon a preliminary tax rate that is two cents per $100 of property valuation lower than the previous year. Once approved that will represent the fifth year in a row property tax rates have been reduced by a total of 23 cents, combined The final property tax rate will not be set until September.
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