Columbia Board of Education set to hear proposal on raising employee salaries
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Board of Education is weighing a proposal to increase employee salaries across the district.
According to a presentation from CPS Chief Financial Officer Heather McArthur -- which is set to be shown to the board on Monday -- the proposal includes improvements to schedules and costs for fully funded medical benefits to be voted on during the meeting.
Currently, the average CPS employee salary is sitting at $58,806, with teachers averaging $63,940. The proposed changes would bump the average employee salary up to $61,816, with teachers averaging $65,101 in the next fiscal year.
According to meeting documents, the changes would increase the operating budget from just over $8.6 million to $9.9 million.
CPS officials are also recommending that the board create a new position, executive director of alternative education, who would also serve as principal at Douglass High School. The role would oversee alternative education programs across the district.
To counter the changes, the district is considering eliminating three full-time positions, which is estimated to free up $660,000 in the budget. This includes the Director of Assessment, Intervention, and Data, the Assistant Director of the Columbia Area Career Center, and the Coordinator of Secondary Gifted Education, which will be converted to K-12. McArthur tells ABC 17 News that all three positions are currently held by employees who are either retiring or resigning by the end of the year, and that the district is choosing not to fill them.
The Columbia Public Schools Board will also consider approving a collective bargaining agreement with the Columbia Missouri National Education Association.
The tentative agreement was reached on Feb. 27 and ratified by CMNEA members in April. The agreement includes a $1,400 base salary increase, raising the minimum salary from $44,200 to $45,600, and adds one contract day for a total of 188 days. The additional day will be teacher-directed.
The changes carry an estimated $3.2 million cost for salary adjustments and about $4.2 million overall, including related retirement and payroll expenses. The agreement also extends the salary schedule to 32 years, creates a new pay scale for speech-language pathologists and updates the learning specialist salary schedule to aid recruitment and retention.
