As school districts draw up budget plans for the upcoming school year, San Antonio’s largest school district will likely place pay raises in the hands of voters.
For months, Northside Independent School District officials have hinted at a voter approval-tax rate election, or VATRE, in November. VATREs increase tax rates on the maintenance and operation side, unlocking extra dollars a school district can use on day-to-day costs like pay, student programs and utilities.
Like most school districts, NISD currently faces a $38 million budget deficit due to lowering enrollment, largely flat state funding and rising costs.
Giving staff raises from their own fund balance would only sink NISD further. The district has made budget cuts a few years in a row, and is currently undergoing an “optimization” plan, weighing whether to invest in strategies to boost enrollment, consolidate campuses or do a mixture of both.
Contingent on a voters OK’ing a VATRE this November, NISD would implement a 2% general pay increase costing $15 million, move all current employees to 1% above minimum wage using $17 million, adjust teacher pay scales based on years of experience and make stipends more competitive.
NISD administration is also recommending salary-related changes that aren’t tied to the passage of a VATRE.
These would kick off this summer and take about a year to fully implement, including reorganizing pay structures to simplify administration, reviewing and standardizing stipends, reducing work calendars (NISD employees are currently using 36 calendars) and updating job titles and descriptions.
Superintendent John Craft, who plans to retire early next year, said reorganizing pay schedules and stipends would help avoid compression and align NISD with current market rates.
In practice, employees could see their current stipends rolled into their base pay and would have to sign off on extra duty agreements. Employees could also see some stipends increased or decreased based on supply and demand.
Like most districts, NISD offers employees different stipends for holding special certifications and graduate degrees. There’s also different incentive bonuses for coaching sports, sponsoring clubs or working after school events.
Like general pay increases, NISD officials expect the VATRE would also pay for stipend bumps.
Some pieces of the compensation plan are already in the works, like restaffing based on student enrollment and revising job descriptions.
NISD has stopped adding staff, eliminating positions as employees leave or transfer.
“Right now we’re doing everything through attrition … we have not displaced individuals at this point,” said Megan Bradley, deputy superintendent for business and finance.
Craft described it as the “scalpel instead of hatchet” cost-saving approach.
Neighboring school districts like San Antonio ISD and Judson ISD are also considering November VATRE elections to generate extra revenue. Both are in the process of implementing significant budget cuts, and both have said a VATRE could support compensation, but neither have gone into detail like NISD.
Last year, several school tax elections in the area and statewide weren’t received well by voters, including in Judson, but Craft feels confident NISD voters will be more supportive.
Based on a small sample of potential voters, Craft said NISD’s own polling shows about 60% support with a 5-point margin of error.
But the VATRE probably wouldn’t be NISD’s only ask this year. The administration is also recommending a bond election for infrastructure projects like heating and cooling technology and security vestibules. Officials predict the bond could start around $400 million, but the amount could change based on which projects take priority.
Northside AFT, the district’s teacher and staff union, intends to support the bond and VATRE efforts, said union president Melina Espiritu-Acozar.
The group has been pushing for NISD’s lowest paid members to be paid at least $15 an hour, which a VATRE would help with. Some of NISD’s auxiliary workers are currently getting paid a minimum of $11.73 an hour.
The school board still has to sign off putting a VATRE and bond election on the ballot this November and is expected to make an official decision in August.
