Raises approved with school board budget

VIDALIA, La. — All support personnel — meaning anyone on staff who is not a certified teacher or administrator — as well as any teacher who performs duties above their contracted scope of work such as leading clubs and extracurricular activities in Concordia Parish will receive a bump in pay following the actions of the school board on Thursday evening.

As the school board considered the budget for the 2024-2025 school year, members approved a 5 percent increase in pay for support personnel and supplemental pay for 43 educators who fall under the requirements of Act 311 signed into law by the Louisiana governor in June.

Per the new law, teachers who are given additional duties beyond their contract scope receive additional compensation for such duties. The minimum required by law is $30 per hour and the school board approved an additional $35 net pay per hour, a $125 stipend for any overnight trips such as attending overnight conferences, and an additional $125 stipend for being club sponsors.

The estimated cost increase to Concordia Parish School Board for Act 311 is $196,314, $32,750 of which is budgeted out of the district’s general fund and the remaining balance is budgeted out of Title 1 funds.

In deciding how to approach Act 311, Superintendent Toyua Bachus said the district consulted with the group of teachers who fall under the act to gather their input in order to make recommendations to the board.

The support personnel pay raises recommended by Bachus “reflects our commitment to recognizing and valuing the hard work and dedication” that those staffers bring to their schools every day, she said.  “We believe that this increase will not only benefit you and your families but also contribute to the continued success and growth of our educational community.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our School Board members for their support and commitment to our staff. Their approval of this pay increase underscores their dedication to making Concordia Parish Schools a great place to work and learn.”

With its budget, the school board also approved the tax millage rates for the new year.

The school board levies three tax millages. The first was set at 2.73 mills, the second at 24.51 mills and the third at 12.43 mills.

Of these rates, the general operations millage is slightly higher than the 2022-2023 tax year when it was set at 24.49 mills but altogether the total of the millage rates is slightly less than the previous tax year. The overall millage is lowered from 40 mills to 39.67 mills.

Rarely do school districts the size of Concordia Parish have taxes below 40 mills, said Director of Business Affairs Tom O’Neal on Thursday.

These taxes generate approximately $6 million of the district’s total revenue.

Of all the financial requests detailed in the budget, the school board moved to strike pay raises for director positions from the final budget. If approved, the pay increase would provide a pay gap between people in those positions and administrators to give more incentive to fill those positions.

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