While many of you are just beginning to pull together recommendations for renewals, probationary contract terminations, and proposed nonrenewals, it is not too early to begin planning for compensation in the 2010-11 school year. This article will outline some of the issues to keep in mind as your district goes through that process and some pointers to assist you with the smooth adoption and implementation of your district’s compensation program.
Minimum Salaries for Certain Professional Staff
Of course, full-time classroom teacher, counselors, librarians, and school nurses must be paid at least the minimum monthly salary calculated under Tex. Educ. Code § 21.402 and as published by the commissioner of education. However, on January 27, 2010, the commissioner submitted a request for opinion to the Attorney General seeking guidance on the effect of the H.B. 3646 amendments on the 2010-11 minimum schedule and more importantly on LOCAL schedules from 2008-09. The request number is RQ-0855-GA and can be accessed on the Attorney General’s website.
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/opinions/50abbott/rq/2010/pdf/RQ0855GA.pdf
Until these questions are answered, many districts that pay above the state minimum schedule will be in limbo regarding appropriate or required compensation plans for 2010-11.
Structuring Local Compensation Plans to Maximize Flexibility
Many districts structure a local compensation plan that is directly tied to the state schedule. Under these plans a particular employee’s pay is expressed as the state minimum multiplied by a certain factor or increased by a certain amount, e.g., the local plan may state that a teacher will earn the state minimum plus $2,000.00. In addition, under many local plans, the pay of all employees, and not just teachers and full-time librarians, counselors, and nurses, is tied to the state schedule through application of a percentage above or below the state minimum.
Such an approach may not be in a district’s best interest because tying employee pay to the state schedule strips districts of flexibility in several ways. First, that approach could require the district to increase all salaries even if it is already paying well above state minimum. In addition, when all employees are tied to the state schedule, it will result in all employees getting a pay increase when teacher pay is increased. The district may want to do this anyway, but if it has pay tied to the state schedule, it will have no choice but to do so. Thus, for districts that pay above the state minimum for those who are subject to the state minimum, eliminating any reference to the state schedule in the local compensation plan or schedule will provide the most latitude in establishing the annual compensation plan.
By the way—what is the WORST compensation plan you can have? In our opinion, any system that begins with or even references the notion of a “daily rate of pay” for any employee, but most especially for professional employees, is contrary to the district’s best interests. We’re happy to discuss individual questions on this one-on-one, but The Texasisd.com platform is not well-suited to those particular discussions.
A compensation plan or system in which each employee’s or class of employees’ compensation is stated as an actual dollar amount (hourly, monthly, or annually) will communicate more clearly to employees and the public and also will give the board the freedom to make compensation decisions independent of the state schedule. The district cannot pay less than the state schedule for classroom teachers and full-time librarians, counselors, and nurses, but with a compensation plan that is the district’s, not linked to the state schedule, the board can exercise greater control over its compensation system and potentially absorb some mandatory increases in the state schedule into the amount it already pays above the state minimum. In addition, using this approach will provide flexibility in the event it is not fiscally feasible for everyone’s pay to increase when teacher pay increases, or in the event the legislature causes a delay in setting minimum salaries, as occurred for the 2005-2006 school year.
Looking forward to the summer when budgets are being prepared, it is beneficial to present the Board with actual dollar figures for each employee or class of employee, rather than just as a lump sum for compensation. This approach should diminish opportunities for controversy and also keep the school board well-informed.
Of course, always remember that the board cannot raise a contract employee’s pay during the school year without requiring them to perform extra services. The Texas Constitution, art. 3, section 53, prohibits any governmental entity from providing additional compensation to an employee or a contractor once services have been rendered or begun to be rendered or a contract has been performed in whole or in part. The only exception to this limitation is that the board may increase compensation during a contract term provided it also requires the employee to provide additional service or duties, i.e., consideration, in exchange for the additional pay.
Keep in mind that if employees have multi-assignment contracts, the “extra” dollars for the duties other than classroom teaching must be treated as contracted dollars, rather than stipends per se, which are discussed below.
To Pay or Not to Pay, That is the Question:
Stipends and other Supplemental Pay
Districts are not required to have supplemental pay systems or stipends. However, many school districts make strategic use of salary stipends to address the realities of today’s job market. For instance, it is not uncommon for districts to provide a stipend or supplement for teachers in high need areas, such as bilingual instruction, math/science, or for assignments in dual-credit programs. Of course, the Board must approve any such pay in advance of implementation. Best practice is to approve those annually, but so long as there is a record of the board’s approval at some time, and no one is paid a stipend or supplement that exceeds what the board has authorized, the schedules can carry over from year-to-year until revised. Administrators are not free to determine these amounts without approval, nor can they change the amounts during the year.
While on the topic of supplemental pay, districts should be aware that they can actually budget for supplemental pay in the form of holiday bonuses, so long as the compensation plan provides for that possibility and is approved before any one begins performing services for the following school year.
Informing Employees of Pay Decisions
After the budget is finalized, if any contract employee’s total compensation is being reduced from the amount the person was paid in the previous school year, the district should send a notice to that employee’s home address informing the employee of the decrease. Such a notice is not required if a component of pay is being reduced but total compensation is not less that it was in the previous contract year. This notice should be sent before the resignation deadline for Chapter 21 contract employees (45 days before the first day of instruction for the 2010-11 school year).
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