Elizabeth Schools employees to get pay boost

All district staff members will see raises as positions become hard to fill

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The Elizabeth School Board last month boosted pay for all district employees based on a confluence of factors, an announcement from the Elizabeth School District states.
 
According to a news release, licensed educators’ annual salaries for the 2022-2023 school year are set to rise by an average of 6.97%, including increases for experience.
 
The base pay for teachers under the new schedule will be $37,502, up from $30,000 in 2018. Classified staff — which includes bus drivers, maintenance employees, custodial staff and office managers — will receive an average 7.83% increase.
 
Paraprofessionals’ pay was increased an average of 10% as those positions are “incredibly hard to fill,” according to Superintendent Douglas Bissonette. Extra-duty pay for coaches was raised 12%, and administrators received a 5% increase.
 
At the May 23 school board meeting, Bissonette said the district is seeing an unusually low number of candidates applying for positions to teach next school year — a concern for school districts statewide. He noted that the board’s 5-0 approval of pay schedules in the May 9 meeting helps with recruitment and retention in a rural district that must compete with larger, neighboring districts.
 
Also among the district’s changes were adjustments to its classified salary schedules. Rather than one schedule for all classified staff, separate schedules were developed for several occupational groups including transportation, early childhood, facility and field maintenance, food service, IT, paraprofessionals, and school and district office staff. This will allow the district greater flexibility in each classification to be competitive with other districts.
 
The district is able to fund these ongoing increases as a result of three main factors:
 
• Increasing enrollment in Elizabeth schools, which brings in additional funding based on the number of students being served.
 
• The state legislature’s approval of increased per pupil funding in the School Finance Act.
 
• A significant decrease in the Budget Stabilization Factor, which results in increased funding for school districts.
Elizabeth Schools, Elbert County, Colorado

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