Goodrich ISD employees to receive pay raise

By Brian Besch
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The Goodrich school board passed the GISD Compensation Plan for 2022-2023 and heard vupdates on maintenance items. 

All employees of Goodrich ISD will receive a bump in pay after an item approved by the school board. Superintendent Daniel Barton and his staff have worked on the plan since just before Christmas.

“We know our struggles. Our struggles are being competitive with our surrounding schools,” Barton said. “Part of the reason for it is that we pay social security and other districts don’t. The other reason is just our size. When you put 30 kids in a classroom, versus our classes — which are smaller and maybe half that size — it creates more of a cost and more of the burden on our district.”

Barton said many school districts now are paying first-year teachers more, and veteran teachers are not seeing the amount of increase in pay they once did.

“That is what we have tried to do, to align with that strategy,” Barton said of neighboring districts’ pay scales. “That is really the only way that we can begin to be competitive.”

Barton compared teacher salaries with school districts in Livingston, Onalaska, Shepherd, Big Sandy and Leggett. Currently, Goodrich has a similar pay scale to that of Leggett, yet still trails that district to the north.

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Starting the next academic year, first-year teachers will begin at $43,000, which is an increase over the current $36,160 — nearly a 16% difference. 

Future compensation will be determined each year by the board, rather than an annual-step raise. Teachers will be paid by the pay scale upon entering Goodrich ISD. However, all teachers will receive a minimum increase of their annual step for 2022.

Barton said he and his staff originally had a goal of $40,000 for starting salary. When area schools recently increased their salaries, the superintendent said the school would still lose ground at that number.

Overall, teachers will receive a raise of 4.63%. The adjustment for steps 0-13 (teachers in their first 13 years of experience) is 8.19%. There will also be stipends for certain positions, such as math, science and foreign language instructors, as well as those with a master’s degree.

The increased cost projections for 2022-23 are $32,285 for teaching staff, $9,406 for administrative staff, $9,081 for support service staff, $4,549 for clerical staff and $24,507 for auxiliary staff. In total, the increase will be $79,828. That number will decrease by absorbing two positions, saving $47,525, meaning the total cost to the district for the compensation plan is $32,303. 

That number is a projection and based on the staff currently in place. Payroll for the staff is currently between $1.1 million and $1.2 million for staff.

The school is still waiting for a change order to mount the electronic sign that will sit in front of the campus. All products have arrived to complete the restroom renovations, while windows have yet to come in. 

There are a few leaks in the old gym. The school plans to have both the roofers and representatives from the solar panel company out to discuss the leaks April 8. McWilliams & Sons will be out to the campus June 6 for the air conditioning project.