HoweEnterprise.com
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May 23, 2022
Teacher salary schedule for Howe ISD being raised by $1,000 The Howe ISD Board of Trustees approved an increase in the salary schedule for teachers for the 2022-23 school year of $1,000. The starting salary will now be $46,000 instead of $45,000 as it was last year. All staff will also receive a 3% raise from last year. The typical increase for staff has been 2%.
school. There are fewer and fewer applicants for teacher openings than in the past and the market has become competitive.
Teachers with over 20 years’ experience will receive a raise of $500 plus the $1,000 salary schedule increase.
“A contract is not binding, but it does mean more, and a person may or may not keep looking for jobs if they’ve signed a contract,” said Wilson. “They may feel more likely to honor that.”
Pay for aids has been $17,000 annually and it was increased to $19,500. Substitute pay will increase by $10 for each category. Bus Drivers have not typically received a raise, but they will get a $0.50 increase per bus trip. The bus driver pay is currently $35 per trip, therefore, morning and afternoon drivers receive $70. The district also agreed to retain the retention stipend which is $1,000 for professionals and $500 for nonprofessionals. Howe ISD Superintendent Kevin Wilson said that insurance contributions surprisingly decreased. The ISD will continue to pay entry-level active care claims. The stipend schedule was increased for One Act Play’s sponsor which takes it from $1,750 to $2,000. Coaching stipends were raised by $500 to $1,000 for some which brings up the level to compared toother schools in the area. Head coaches of sports were raised by the same amount. The school board also reverted back to a previous policy of parents providing medicine to their children instead of the school supplying products such as Tylenol and Advil. Wilson said most districts do not supply medicine for their students. A provision is in place for athletics where medicine will be supplied if needed. The board also approved Wilson to have hiring authority in April instead of customarily beginning in May. This was done to speed up the process of obtaining signed contracts for teachers who might otherwise have to wait for a board meeting for approval and could obtain a contract from another
Wilson said they lost a person on the day of the Monday board meeting due to this very scenario.
The board also tabled the covered bus parking construction project for the second straight month due to the rising cost of the project. The board asked for a construction estimate of covered parking without electricity or concrete and the building with 18 piers cost $146,000 which does not include dirt work or the cost of rock but does include labor. It was estimated that it would cost $25,000 in rock and dirt work which would take the project to near $171,000. Wilson said that at some point they would want to install electricity for lights. “I don’t have a strong opinion on this, but we’ve been talking about it for years and it cost what it cost,” said Wilson. “If you think it’s something we shouldn’t move forward on, I think the price is reasonable, but we could wait and hope the price goes down, but it’s probably not going to. It’s only going to go up.” Wilson went on to recommend accepting the $257,000 bid but to modify it down and negotiate cost with the bidder (Metal Masters) and having the project completed by the beginning of the school year. The ISD had budgeted $115,000 for the project this year. “It won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t (accept it), but I’d like to get moving on it if we can,” said Wilson. After many questions from the board members on time frame, budgeting, and details, a motion was not made for or against the project and the agenda item has been tabled for a later date.
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