By Kelsie Hahn

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Waco teachers will see an average 4 percent pay hike this school year, but some say veteran teachers and support personnel aren’t getting their fair share.

Waco Independent School District board of trustees unanimously passed the new payment schedule Thursday after WISD teacher Ann Sandifer, president of the local chapter of the Texas State Teachers Association, urged them to amend the schedule to give teachers with the most experience a larger pay raise to reflect their contributions.

“It’s also important to retain the teachers that we have,” she said. “The (salary’s) message is one of disappointment.”

Although teachers are grateful for any increase, Sandifer said, WISD must do more to retain veteran teachers.

The pay schedule adopted by the board calls for a $700 salary increase for the 84 teachers at the top end of the pay scale, which ranges between a 1.2 and 1.3 percent increase. Sandifer said the raise should be increased to at least $1,100, which would reflect increases between 2 and 2.1 percent.

She also urged school trustees to consider giving educational support personnel an across-the-board raise of $1.50 an hour, saying they’re indispensable to teachers and schools and need the money to cover rising fuel and food costs.

Trustee Pat Atkins said the board should consider Sandifer’s proposals for the 2009-10 budget, as the proposed 2008-09 budget is already projected to run a $382,655 deficit. The latter will be paid with money from the district’s unreserved, undesignated fund balance.

The teachers’ pay schedule calls for a minimum .62 percent increase and a maximum 6.7 percent increase in teacher salaries, weighted toward the middle of the experience scale. Starting salaries rose by $1,000 to $38,000 a year, about a 2.7 percent increase.

Teachers at the top end of the pay scale saw a $700 increase to $55,400.

Salary increases for teachers, librarians and nurses will cost the district about $1.5 million in its $108.8 million total proposed budget.

WISD must become more competitive in its pay to teachers with several years of experience, district human resources director Robbie Maness said in an interview.

“That was a market decision — that’s where we need to put money to be more competitive with other districts,” she said. “(It) keeps them from being lured away to another campus.”

The board also approved altering how the school district calculates where registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses fall on the pay scale, giving them credit for previous nursing experience.

This will allow the district to offer experienced nurses higher starting salaries, addressing another area where Waco schools must become more competitive, Maness said.

“We have had quite an issue attracting and retaining nurses, and we’re hoping that increase here will help with that,” she said.

The board also set Aug. 21 for a public hearing on the proposed budget. Board members will vote on the budget after public input.

The bond election that passed earlier this year will raise the total tax rate to $1.35 per $100 from $1.16 per $100, said Sheryl Davis, WISD assistant superintendent for business and support services. A bump in appraised values of properties in the district will also mean additional revenue, though not enough to overcome the projected deficit.

Residences in the district are valued at an average of $89,674, up from $82,593 last year, Davis said, and will mean an average tax increase of $209.11 per residence.

In other business, the board approved the appointments of three new school administrators.

* Rick Hartley, a nine-year veteran of WISD, was appointed principal of University Middle School. Hartley has a master’s in computers in education from National University in San Diego and has 20 years experience in education.

* Daetha Rankin was appointed assistant principal of G.W. Carver Academy after three years with WISD and 12 years in education. He has master’s of science and master’s of education degrees from the University of Central Texas and Tarleton State University, respectively.

* Zachary Beck was appointed assistant principal of Bell’s Hill Elementary, and has spent five of his six years in education at WISD. He has a master’s of education from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix and has taught at Waco High School and Provident Heights.

khahn@wacotrib.com

757-5735