By Nathan Prewett, For The Tribune
LEEDS – Following the recent bill signed by Gov. Kay Ivey that raised the pay of teachers in Alabama the Leeds Board of Education discussed adjusting the pay scale for teachers in the district.
Before the pay raise was discussed the board recognized Regan Tolbert, a teacher at Leeds Elementary School, who was certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Tolbert teaches gifted talents in grades three, four and five.
Afterward the board heard a report from Chief Financial Officer Ryan Miller for February. He reported that the district received 58 percent of the general fund revenues and other financing sources through the end of the fiscal year. In addition, 95.18 percent of the local revenues were received, up from 7.98 percent.
Accounts payable were $339,263, gross payroll expenditures were $1,116,006 and the month was ended with an excess of revenues over expenditures in the general fund of $3,163,336, which he said was normal. As a result, the unreserved fund balance on February 28 was $6,264,299.
The board then turned its attention to the pay raise for teachers. The bill signed by Ivey allows a raise for teachers with a certain number of years of experience in an effort to retain teachers and attract new ones to classrooms.
Using a list of pay scales from the Alabama Education Association (AEA) Superintendent John Moore pointed out the yearly salaries of teachers, using an example of a teacher with a bachelor’s degree that works nine months earning $54,981.
He compared that number with Leeds, which pays $55,707, higher than the minimum, but the state didn’t give districts money to reimburse teachers. A “real” salary schedule is now in place with the new law. The AEA has a “proposed teacher salary matrix” for the fiscal year 2023 that lists the scales based on degrees and shows how much teachers will get per year.
“The good news is that they’re going to give us all of that money,” Moore said of what the state will reimburse for districts and their teachers. “So we will no longer be coming out of pocket $400 a year for this person, $1,000 a year for that person.”
The new salary scale for Leeds teachers was discussed. The new law allows incentives from the state yearly based on their experience, such as a teacher working for nine years who gets a one percent increase from the state, starting next school year.
A four percent increase will come from the Leeds district for teachers working from years zero to eight. Years nine to 35 will come from the state.
All other education employees will still benefit. Moore proposed that the district add one percent locally to what the state gives, increasing their pay by five percent.
The board then approved accepting a bid from Inline to upgrade the Wi-fi signal in the elementary and primary schools. Technology Supervisor Andrew Jackson said that the bandwidth will support more devices in the schools. He noted that the other schools will get the same upgrade next summer.
The bid was accepted for $90,000.
In other business the board:
- Renewed its contract with Coach Jerry Hood at Leeds High School, and
- Purchased a school bus using funds from a state grant.
The next meeting will be held on May 10 at 6 p.m. at the Leeds Board of Education Building 1517 Hurst Avenue.