Fort Smith School Board approves teacher pay increases for 2017-2018

Teachers in the Fort Smith Public School (FSPS) district will see pay increases for the 2017-2018 School Year after a 5-0 vote of School Board members at Monday night’s (April 24) regular meeting. Board members Bill Hanesworth and Talicia Richardson were absent, but Board President Dr. Deanie Mehl issued a statement shortly after the vote.

“I would like to say that several years ago we were not able to offer a raise, so I’m very pleased that we can offer one this year. I think all of us wish it was more and are hoping in the future with a possible millage increase that we will be able to increase the salary more because our teachers do deserve it.”

Mehl acknowledged FSPS is below some neighboring districts on salary, but noted “because of our benefits, we are competitive.” She also revealed the district would be rolling out a report in the not-too-distant future to show how it competes on overall compensation package.

With the approval, the average annual increase for the 1,228 total certified staff will be $833.98 per person — a 1.53% upgrade from the 2016-2017 School Year.

The move will increase base salaries $200 per year from $37,750 to $37,950. The range of increases for licensed and non-licensed staff in length of service increments will range from $240-$1,834, or increases of 0.45%-3.73%.

To pay for the proposed increases, the district will need $715,000 for licensed staff and $275,000 for non-licensed. An additional $305,000 will cover the base salary increase, and all line items will be compensated through $1.475 million in new funds available through local and state revenues.

To Mehl’s point about competitiveness, FSPS Director of Financial Services Charles Warren noted the district makes higher insurance contributions per employee and offers “dental and vision benefits that are not primarily seen in Northwest Arkansas.”

“You have to look at the salary schedule throughout the steps,” Warren said. “We may actually beat them in years 10 through 15, especially when you look at take-home pay and benefits. So it may not look like we are as competitive as Northwest Arkansas in year one and year two, but throughout the salary schedule, you will find we are competitive and can keep our own even as we are not having comparable millage.”

Also Monday, the Board agreed to make the free breakfast meals program available to all students on a permanent basis. The increase in participation will increase cost to the district by $15,000 and will start in the 2017-2018 School Year.

The free breakfast program launched in 2014 and served 74,829 meals before taking a slight dip to 73,087 in 2015 prior to a large spike for the 2016-2017 School Year. Better marketing of the program will result in an estimated 83,774 meals served by the end of May, a year-to-year increase of 10,687.

On a related note, the Board voted to increase the price of school lunches 25 cents and the food bar option by 35 cents per federal regulations that dictate fees are enough to cover food costs. Full pay for students will now be $2.50 per meal at the elementary level and $2.75 at secondary. Reduced lunches for elementary and secondary will be 40 cents each.