Alba-Golden heard a presentation on teacher pay by Zachary Hobbs from the Texas Association of School Boards Thursday night at a special meeting. Hobbs, who has worked with TASB for 10 years and came to AGISD from Austin to give the presentation, walked the board through the whole process of building his recommendation.

According to him, TASB works on a market-based pay system, in which TASB does extensive studies to find the median salary paid for comparable jobs in the regional market.

“In a nutshell, you’re paying jobs for what they’re valued out in the marketplace,” Hobbs explained.

He recommended that AGISD give “regular, general pay increases…as your budget allows.”

While there were three options for the 2024-25 increase – a total 3.1% increase, a 4.0% increase or a 4.6% increase – the board decided to take some time to review the information before deciding.

AGISD board member Mike Ragsdale asked Hobbs how AGISD can “compete with places like Sulphur Springs,” who “have 4,400 (students).”

Hobbs pointed out that “It’s important to see what they’re doing…(because) whether we like it or not, they are your competitor.”

The final results of the TASB survey for AGISD showed that Alba-Golden schools are hiring at about $7,000 below the market value for a teacher’s starting salary. However, the gap begins to close around the 5-year experience mark.

AGISD non-teaching pay groups like central administration, clerical paraprofessionals, auxiliary, etc., “pay competitively and are aligned with market rates,” according to Hobbs. In fact, several categories within this pay group pay above market value.

Kaitlynn Hawley, AGISD director of finance, followed the TASB presentation with a presentation on how to implement these strategies within the budget. Hawley and the board worked with a few ideas and are hoping to adopt one of TASB’s recommended compensation plans in June. They will officially adopt the next year’s budget in the normal September board meeting.

While the board has not yet chosen which of TASB’s general pay increases it might adopt, AGISD board member Terry Clark summed up the thoughts of the evening well.

“I think we’re all in agreement: we want to do the most we possibly can within our means,” he said.