Bath County school district staff can expect pay raises after unanimous decision by board

OWINGSVILLE, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Teacher pay is an ongoing topic of discussion across Kentucky. Now another central Kentucky school district has officially said raises are coming.

It was a unanimous decision by the Bath County Board of Education to approve a 5% raise across the board for certified positions like teachers. Classified positions like custodians and bus drivers will get a dollar raise. It’s something district leaders like Superintendent Steven Evans wanted, but there were hurdles to cross.

“Bath County is an economically disadvantaged county. We’re surrounded by Montgomery and Morehead Rowan County, which both have a lot of industry, a lot of businesses,” Evans said.

That isn’t the case for Bath County, meaning a majority of the raise comes from taxpayers.

“I don’t like to raise taxes, but if we’re going to support our people, we need the support of our County, so that’s one of the things we have to do,” Evans said.

While it was a tough decision, district leaders say the pay raises benefit all employees, with the classified position raise adding up fast and the certified raise bumping up salaries as a whole.

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“Our teachers are fantastic. They’ve worked relentlessly to help our kids be successful, so the way the system works, if we can’t keep up, I don’t blame them for going to another district to make eight or $9,000 more because it also counts towards your retirement and the remainder of your life. the opportunity to give them 5%. We can’t catch up to our neighbors, but we can stay in the hunt,” Evans said.

The pay raises will take effect on July 1.

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