New study to review Portsmouth school salaries
Consulting firm to provide guidance for next budget
PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth School Board approved a compensation study that will identify “gaps” in the employee pay scale and come up with potential solutions for pay compression.
The board recently voted on the $69,350 contract with Management Advisory Group, Inc., a consulting firm based in Fairfax.
Chair Cardell Patillo said during a meeting the board has been working toward a compensation study for several years and the goal is to get recommendations “as fast as possible.”
Superintendent Elie Bracy sent a letter to staff explaining that in the next several weeks division leadership will work with the firm to come up with recommendations for the upcoming budget, focusing first on teacher salaries.
Management Advisory will provide guidance for all employee groups as well.
Employee groups presented their pay requests for the budget in November. The Portsmouth Education Association requested a 5% raise for all employees; the maintenance staff requested 15% raises and step increases on the pay scale for auxiliary services building maintenance staff, which includes electricians, locksmiths and other maintenance staff.
The scale represents years of experience, but increases have to be approved by the board. Custodians also requested performance-based incentives.
Laura Hamilton, president of the education association and a second-grade teacher at Brighton Elementary School, said she hopes the study will identify the problems with staff pay, including pay compression — when staff with less experience start to make nearly the same as more veteran staff — and cost of living.
“We just pray that it’s not too little, too late,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said teachers who have worked in the division for 10 years have not moved up the pay scale. She has worked there for several years and never received a step increase.
She knows some who have left for other school systems, seeking better compensation.
Board member Sarah Hinds said during the Jan. 18 meeting that she views the study as a “recruitment and a retainment issue” at a time when divisions are “all in a fight for our lives for teachers.”