Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Board approves raises for Prescott teachers

Teachers in the Prescott School District will have a merrier Christmas as they will be getting a raise on their Dec. 20 checks.

In a special called meeting of the Prescott School Board, Tuesday, Dec. 3, the panel voted unanimously to approve a new salary schedule.

Prescott Superintendent Hyacinth Deon said implementing the new salary schedule had to be delayed until after the Nov. 5, General Election to see what happened with proposed Amendment 3.

Had it passed, she said, there would have been no raises, but as it failed, employees of the district will get the increases.

Deon said she had hoped to be able to give the raises at the district's Christmas party, but couldn't get the paperwork done in time. Instead, all certified and non-certified staff will get the pay hikes in their next check, which will be on Dec. 20.

Those teachers with ninemonth contracts will receive $1,500, while those having contracts for 10 or more months will be increased accordingly.

Now, the district's base pay for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience is $25,360, while the base for a teacher with a master's and no experience is 131 percent higher than the state mandated $21,860.

Those who have master's degrees and 15 years experience are receiving 166 percent of the state mandated base salary.

Non-certified personnel with the district will get a flat 5 percent raise.

Deon said the Title I budget didn't have enough funds to give all the personnel a 5 percent raise, so the district will pick up the other $3,000 to make sure everyone gets the same consideration.

In other business, Board President George Odom said Jim Franks, with the Bank of Prescott, will be talking to the panel at the regular December meeting on the 17th, about the process the district will need to go through to replace a dilapidated building on campus.

Odom said Franks, who has been on the board, has done the necessary research and has the knowledge to inform the board on the steps it will have to take for this project.

Deon said Franks will also be discussing the Lake View lawsuit with the board at the meeting.

This will be done in the form of a workshop, so the board members will be able to get credit from the Arkansas School Board Association for it.

According to Deon, Franks will tell the board how the Lake View case will affect school districts in the state and what the board will be able to do afterwards.