The Mission school district board approved a compensation package Wednesday that the district describes as healthy while lowering taxes for the fifth year in a row.
That compensation package sets starting salaries for new teachers with no experience at $55,000, a news release from the district said. Teachers will receive a $2,000 pay increase and non-teaching positions will receive a 3.5% salary increase based on the new midpoint of their salary schedule.
For more experienced teachers interested in working for Mission CISD, the new compensation plan raises the maximum years of creditable service to 25 years for new hires, the release said.
“Other teacher salary schedule adjustments will relieve pay compression between certain years of experience,” it said.
The district will also payout a $1,000 stipend to employees in two installments, one in September and one in December.
“One of the key elements to holding on to the best staff is to make sure you are providing the best compensation possible,” Superintendent Carol G. Perez wrote. “When I was hired, the district pay scales had fallen behind as compared to the area market. Now, after careful planning and budgeting with the board members, we are able to offer our employees salaries that, in most cases, beat the market median.”
A salary study conducted by the Texas Association of School Boards said Mission CISD’s teacher salaries were 6.4% above the market median in comparison with 25 Region One districts, the release said, a trend the district expects to continue with the new increases.
“On top of the salary improvements, we are pleased to let our employees know that their health insurance premiums won’t be increasing,” Perez wrote. “The Board of Trustees has adopted a budget that allows us to absorb the 18% increases in health insurance premiums this year.”
According to the release, compensation and teachers exiting Mission CISD was a priority when Perez joined the district four years ago. That priority has been addressed, it said.
“When you bring all of this together, with our goals to also focus on growing our own leaders from within, and supporting personal and professional growth, we are hoping to keep Mission CISD one of the most desirable districts to work for,” Perez wrote.
The board also approved their 2022-23 budget Wednesday.
The release says the budget is based on a preliminary tax rate that is two cents per $100 of property valuation lower than the previous year, and once approved that rate will represent the fifth year in a row property tax rates have been reduced, by an overall total of 23 cents.
The final property tax rate will be set in September.
