The Escambia County (Ala.) Board of Education Monday approved a 3 percent salary adjustment increase for school administrators (principals, assistant principals and attendance administrators) to facilitate retention and recruitment of those positions.
A 3 percent raise across the board will cost more than $90,000 a year and come from local funds, following discussion that the amount will be sustainable. There was also discussion about paying staff based on their specialized or advanced degrees, supplements in addition to their base salaries, which would provide incentive to earn them.
Knott provided several figures for the board to consider, explaining that system has lost several administrative personnel to higher-paying neighboring school systems.
Knott said school systems vary, with some paying extra for certifications and advanced degrees.
'There's no incentive financially,' is what Knott said he has heard from staff who began working on higher or specialized degrees and stopped because they felt it wasn't worth the investment.
Knott suggested the board consider a 3 percent or a 5 percent increase across the board for all administrative personnel to be in line with what is being paid across the state.
“That would keep us competitive,” said Board Member Coleman Wallace.
The principals are most important because they are the captain of the ship,” said Board Member Mike Edwards. “We have some good ones who have been looking for a raise for a while that we cannot afford to lose. I think it is imperative for us to be competitive with everybody else. There's more competition, especially with the junior college and Brewton City Schools. Those are our big competitors. Those are the people we are going up against. We need to do what we can do to keep them.”
Board Member Danny Benjamin pointed out that the rest of the employees do not need to be left out, and Board Member Cindy Jackson agreed, that an increase across the board would be more fair.
“I was a support person and I got dumped on a lot, and got little pay,” said Jackson. “It's just not right.”
In a motion made by Edwards and seconded by Benjamin, the motion carried unanimously. Board Member Mike Hoomes was not present.
In other business, the board approved the following recommendation personnel changes:
Leave of absence
Scotty Benton, teacher aide at Escambia County Middle School, effective Aug. 3, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2020 (or until the return of the full-time employee)
Employment
Off contract personnel to work a maximum of 10 days during July 2020 to facilitate the planning for the 2020-2021 school re-opening (funding through CARES Act-ESSER): Cheryl Jones, attendance administrator at central offices, Stephanie Alaniz, lead nurse at Escambia County High School and Connie Reeves, instructional technology resource teacher at Atmore Central Office.
