By Tanna M. Friday
Editor
TRUSSVILLE — Over 500 Trussville City School teachers and school employees will see a three percent pay increase next month thanks to the Trussville City Schools board of education and the Alabama Legislature.
On Monday evening, the Trussville City Schools board of education unanimously approved the 2018-2019 salary schedule welcoming its faculty and staff back to the new school year with a .5 percent TCS salary increase in addition to the state’s 2.5 percent increase.
Alabama House bill, HB174, enacts a 2.5 percent salary increase for public education employees of K-12 public schools, the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB), the Department of Youth Services School District, the Alabama School of Fine Arts, the Alabama High School of Mathematics and Science, and the two-year post-secondary institutions under the Board of Trustees for the Community College System.
The statewide salary increase will cost the state about $91 million annually and is part of the approved 2019 education budget, which calls for spending $6.6 billion from the Education Trust Fund. It is the largest education budget for Alabama’s schools since the great recession of 2008.
Although the state funded pay increase becomes effective October 1, 2018, the TCS Board will implement the combined three percent increase to its teachers and school employees beginning July 1. The state will provide reimbursement to TCS beginning in October of this year.
Superintendent Pattie Neill shared, “I appreciate the hard work of every employee in Trussville City Schools and a salary increase is a wonderful way to say thank you for serving the students of Trussville.”
TCS Board President, Kathy Brown, added, “Anytime we can give our employees a raise, we will. Our employees are the cornerstone of our school system and we, as a board, appreciate the incredible work they do for our students and also our community.”
