In addition to the 2.5 percent raise passed by the Alabama State Legislature this year, Baldwin County Schools teachers and staff could see an additional 2.5 percent raise, according to a proposal made by Superintendent Eddie Tyler this week.
During the April 17 Baldwin County Board of Education work session, Tyler said the potential system-wide raise was something he and CSFO John Wilson had been discussing for months.
“We discussed what we could do with some of the funds we were seeing, and we both in unison said what about an employee raise,” Tyler said.
For a cost of slightly more than $4.5 million, the system could approve the state-backed 2.5 percent cost of living increase and this locally backed proposal.
With the change, Wilson said Baldwin County’s salary schedule would be approximately 5.5 percent larger than the state salary schedule, which could help Baldwin County schools attract more teachers in critically needed positions - especially in math and science.
“If we are able to do this, we won’t have math and science shortages,” board member JaNay Dawson said. “The quality people will want to be here. Who doesn’t want to live in Baldwin County and make more money than they would somewhere else?”
The raise would be the first Baldwin County teachers have seen in nearly for years, when the state did a 2 percent raise and Baldwin County was able to do a 1 percent raise.
The potential 5 percent change would put Baldwin County among the highest ranked teacher salaries in the state, above top-tier school systems like Mountain Brook, Madison and Hoover.
“I’m excited that we’re able to do this,” board member David Tarwater said. “It’s recognition of the hard work that our teachers have been doing and that our teachers have higher class levels than they did years ago.”
Wilson told the board that he had evaluated the recurring cost and felt the system’s finances could cover the potential cost and still be able to maintain a two month reserve operating balance for the system.
“This is a wonderful thing that we’re trying to do to help our teachers and staff across our county,” Tyler said. “We always want to be sure that our top priority is investing in our employees to help continue to make Baldwin County one of the best school systems in this state.”
The potential raise will be a part of the salary schedule that will be presented to the board for a vote in the coming months.
