Navarro board approves 5% pay increase

Felicia Frazar The Seguin Gazette

Navarro staff will get a bump in pay after the board of trustees voted a 5% increase on Monday during the regular meeting.

The measure calls for a $2,700 increase in the salary schedule for all teachers, a 5% increase at midpoint for each salary group, as well as increasing the paraprofessional staff hours from 7.5 to 8 hours a day and guaranteeing a minimum five hours per day for transportation employees.

The new adjustments that are set for the 2022-23 school year also include a starting salary of $50,700 a year.

“We are grateful for the school board’s support of a generous raise for all our employees,” Superintendent Wendi Russell said. “The district is trying to raise salaries to be competitive with area schools and 5% will do just that.”

The increases passed following an unanimous vote under a motion made by Trustee Hank Dietert and a second by Trustee Clint Scheib.

““The board has a very strong commitment to taking care of the teachers at Navarro,” board President Renee Rehfeld said. “We’ve been committed. Since 2009, we have had an increase every year.”

Typically, the adjustment is between 2 to 3%; however, with the rising costs of everything and the work teachers have put in through the COVID-19 pandemic, the board felt it needed to give the staff just a little bit extra, Rehfeld said.

“This year, we felt like it was really important with what the teachers have experienced over the past two years and financially the situation that we’re in, we’re able to give our teachers a 5% increase to their midpoint,” she said.

The adjustments will help the district retain staff it currently employs, as well as recruit new employees to its workforce with a salary that is competitive with neighboring districts, Rehfeld said.

“In terms of staying competitive and being competitive, that was initially what our goal was, to get the starting salary up to a point where we could be competitive with the surrounding districts,” she said. “I’m excited about being able to do this.”

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