CCSB Approves Classified Pay Raise

RISON - The Cleveland County School Board approved giving classified staff a 50 cent per hour pay raise and approved hiring former Rison High School teacher Angie Hudson as the new Rison Elementary principal during a special meeting held last Thursday at the administration building in Rison. Superintendent Craig Dupuy told the school board during previous meetings that he was looking at ways to give the classified staff a pay increase in light of the LEARNS act raising teacher pay from a minimum of $36,000 to $50,000. Classified staff essentially includes all non-teaching jobs like office personnel, maintenance workers, janitorial staff, etc. During last week's meeting, Dupuy explained that the new LEARNS plan approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Sarah Sanders earlier this year does not require school districts to raise classified staff salaries. However, Dupuy pointed out that the state legislature did approve adding an extra $44 per student in foundation money for the 2023-24 school year that would go toward providing pay raises for classified staff. Foundation funding is the money each school district receives from the state on a per student basis. A district's overall foundation funding is based on its average daily enrollment from the previous school year. Dupuy said school districts will be receiving an additional $205 per student in foundation money for the 2023-24 school year with $44 of that being dedicated solely to classified staff salary increases. Dupuy noted that the legislature's intent for the extra money was to provide each classified employee with a $2 per hour raise. However, he explained that the matrix used by the legislature in determining the amount needed for the $2 raise did not reflect the actual number of classified staff that school districts actually employ. Dupuy said the matrix used by the legislature to come up with the amount of money needed for t...