School district seeks $7 million budget increase to boost teacher, staff salaries
JACKSON, Tenn. — From the classroom to the cafeteria, school employees are the backbone of the district and leaders are focused on making sure their pay reflects that.
“Outcomes for our students and the culture in our building starts with our people,” said Jason Compton, school board vice chairman.
Keeping good teachers and staff in the classroom, that’s the focus of a new needs analysis discussed in the Jackson-Madison County School System and it all starts with pay.
“We have over 2,000 employees, 80 % of our total budget is salaries and benefits and we’ve got to be intentional about that, on where that money is going and how it’s affecting kids,” said Compton.
Low pay and growing demands have left many educators fed up and pushing others out of the profession.
In May of 2023, Governor Bill Lee signed the teacher paycheck protection act, the largest pay raise in state history.
Now, as districts work to attract and retain employees, further salary increases are needed.
“There’s a proposal of trying to move our starting teacher salaries to the mid $53,000 range,” said Compton.
Madison County’s teacher starting pay was once $38,000.
Over the years, the district increased it to $51,000.
“We want to get our starting teacher salaries in at a really competitive level while still covering benefits at a really competitive level,” said Compton.
Speaking of benefits, health insurance rises yearly. Currently, the district absorbs that amount, but leaders say it’s not sustainable moving forward.
“Health insurance has gone up, but we have not put any of that burden on our employees. We’ve gotten their salaries up and we’ve increased, and we’ve done different things with differentiated pay and bonus payments, and we’ve covered 100 percent of that,” said Compton.
Cafeteria, teacher assistant, and clerical positions may see a pay increase as well. The overall budget increase for the fiscal year 2027 to 28 totals approximately $7 million.
The finance committee will meet again next Monday at noon and next Thursday. The deadline to submit the school board budget to the county is May 1.
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