Conroe Courier August 29, 2023

Willis ISD officials have approved a $81 million budget with a lower tax rate and some raises for supporting staff.

Raises for teachers and staff were not included in the 2023-24 budget, which was approved with a tax rate of $1.00 per $100 valuation during an Aug. 17 board meeting. The district’s 2022-23 tax rate was $1.15 per $100 valuation. 

In effort to retain and recruit staff, board members approved a bonus up to $1,500 in December for teachers and staff hired before Sept. 1.

For non-exempt and hourly employees, they are expected to receive a $1,000 payment. For employees hired after Sept. 1, they are expected to receive a one-time payment of $500. 

A bonus between $1,500 to $2,500 also was given in August to returning staff. 

Some raises were given to supporting staff such as maintenance, transportation, custodial and child nutrition workers.

The largest pay increase goes towards custodial and child nutrition staff. Pay has increased by $1 an hour over the current rate for custodians, while child nutrition staff will receive an increase of $1.32 over the current rate at the district. The increases range between $12 an hour to $20 an hour for staff in various pay grades, officials said.

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The failure of House Bill 100 in the Texas Legislature, which would have allocated $3.8 billion to public schools and increased teacher salaries, put school boards in the position of trying to pass budgets and increase teacher salaries without financial support from the state, said Willis ISD board president Kyle Hoegemeyer. 

“Our state government is tying are hands behind our back and our feet together and asking us to run,” Hoegemeyer said during the Aug. 17 board meeting. “We’ve got to bring in money to be able to pay for teachers, to pay for infrastructure, for all these things. Our state government, while they’re celebrating and saying ‘we’re lowering your property taxes,’ they’re doing it at the expense of the public school system.” 

Some residents at the meeting claimed the district is “among the lowest in Montgomery County” for teachers’ starting salaries.

“We’re hoping that the Legislature can come back to us with more money,” said Board Secretary Chad Jones during the board meeting. “Because everybody will need another (pay) bump. We’re all sitting here waiting.”

According to the district’s website, teachers with a bachelor’s degree start at $55,000 annually, while those with a master’s degree start at $56,200.

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Despite funding challenges, the district started the school year off with few teacher vacancies.

Before the 2022-23 school year started, Willis ISD had 40 to 60 teacher vacancies, and that number was down to six as summer ended this year.