The Escambia County (Ala.) Board of Education last Thursday approved the implementation of the state-mandated pay raise of 2.5 percent for the 2018-2019 school year to start with the contract year and not wait until Oct. 1, 2018.
Employees who are contracted for 12 months will see a higher pay beginning July 1 while teachers, whose contracts begin Sept. 1, will see a higher pay at the end of September. Retirees will receive a '13th' check' in the lump sum of about $400 from the Alabama Retirement System.
Although the pay raise is not required to take effect until Oct.1, school superintendent John Knott recommended the early implementation.
“Our teachers and staff work very hard to make sure these kids have the best education, and I think approving this is a wonderful, good faith gesture by the board,” said Knott.
School system CEO Julie Madden said the early implementation will cost about $80,728.
Madden told the board that there was a $12.88 million ending balance, which gave the school system 4.03 months of operating reserve. Madden said that 75 percent of capital purchase funds had been received, which is what is funding the new concession stand and bathroom buildings at Flomaton High School.
In a motion made by board member David Nolan and seconded by board member Cindy Jackson, the board approved the motion unanimously.
In other business, the board also approved the following action items: approval to change the contract days for CNP Managers from a 202-day contract to a 187-day contract, effective with the 2018-2019 contract year; approval of revised a policy that allows students to exit high school if they have reached their seventeenth birthday and have successfully completed all the requirements necessary to earn an Alabama High School Diploma; approval to authorize McKee and Associates to develop specifications and a bid packet for the completion of the roof on the new W. S. Neal High School building, the male athletic building and auditorium and the female athletic building.
In a motion made by board member Danny Benjamin and seconded by board member Mike Edwards, the motion was approved.
