Spring ISD’S new budget includes raises for teachers

School district’s financial officials think tax rate may decrease as community continues to grow

The Spring Independent School District board of trustees voted unanimously June 10 to approve a $361 million budget for fiscal year 2015.

The budget focuses on staffing increases as well as providing an across-the-board-pay increase for staff and a bump in starting pay for teachers without experience.

The district’s fiscal year starts July 1.

“Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers and support staff is challenging in our competitive market and vitally important to our students’ academic success,” said Rhonda Faust, Spring ISD board president. “We are pleased that we were able to increase significantly the starting salary for firstyear teachers and give raises to the rest of our staff.”

Starting in August, beginning teachers will receive an annual salary of $48,500, an increase of $2,963 from the previous school year.

Trustee Chris Bell said the board spent a lot of time in discussions about salaries for starting teachers and focused on how Spring is competing with other districts to attract new teachers and retain teachers already on staff.

Bell said he recently attended a job fair and was pleased to speak with teaching candidates who want to teach in the district.

“The line of people wanting to talk with Spring ISD was just amazing,” Bell said. “We are talking about folks who were coming here from L.A., coming from Mississippi and other places, who were looking specifically at Spring and had done their research. I was just surprised by the feedback I got andwe need to keep being as competitive as we can.”

District staff will receive a 5 percent bump in pay, which includes funds to off-set an anticipated increase in health insurance rates.

The $361 million budget is based on a proposed tax rate of $1.54 per $100 valuation, which is three cents lower than the 2013-14 tax rate.

At the current $ 1.57 tax rate, a homeowner in Spring ISD whose home is valued at $200,000 currently pays an average of $3,140 annually in property taxes.

However, with the decrease to $1.54, homeowners could see a decrease of about $60 and pay an average of $3,080 on their property taxes.

However, Ann West--

brooks, Spring ISD assistant superintendent for finance, said the board won’t approve the tax rate until September, when the Harris County Appraisal District provides the certi- fied tax roll.

With this budget, trustees focused on addressing growth by adding positions and purchasing equipment, as well as focusing more on campus and district safety.

Safety was magnified in the fall when aSpring High School student was fatally stabbed by another student oncampus.

“With this budget we fortified our safety and security,” said trustee Ron Crier. “On Sept. 4 a tragic incident took place at Spring High School. That played a big part in our board responding to this year’s budget.”

As a result, the district is increasing staffing in its police department to maintain safety on campuses, as well as ensuring the district in all emergency situations, Crier said.

While safety was a key issue, Crier said Spring ISD is still a great place to workand live.

“We think we are attractive,” Crier said. “People are friendly (in Spring) and we want it to remain that way. We also want to be academically competitive with our neighbors.”