CCSB Approves Revised Teacher Salary Schedule

RISON - While the Cleveland County School Board approved a new certified salary schedule Monday that reflects the new $50,000 minimum salary for teachers under the LEARNS Act, Superintendent Craig Dupuy was not as optimistic about the state funding being enough to give classified workers a $2 per hour increase. Dupuy discussed both the certified and classified salary schedules during the Cleveland County School Board's regular monthly meeting Monday night. The board unanimously approved a revised salary schedule for certified staff (teachers and other personnel with certifications) that reflects the new $50,000 minimum under the LEARNS plan. Dupuy noted that the certified salary schedule had been previously approved by the district's personnel policy committee before presenting it to the board Monday night. Earlier this year, the state legislature approved Gov. Sarah Sanders' LEARNS education plan. One of the most significant changes under the new law is that the minimum teacher salary is being raised from $36,000 to $50,000 per year, and those teachers who were already earning $50,000 or more received a $2,000 raise. Dupuy said he implemented the new minimums across the district's existing salary schedule. What resulted, he said, is one of the strangest looking schedules he had ever seen since nearly all the positions were at the $50,000 minimum regardless of how long they have been working. While LEARNS did raise the minimum pay to $50,00, it does not include any year-to-year "step' raises beyond that. Cleveland County, like most school districts, offered step raises for years of service as well as for those teachers who pursued advanced degrees. The Cleveland County School District's salary schedule started with a column for teachers having just a bachelor's degree. There were additional columns on the scheduled that offered step increases for those who had 15 hours of post-graduate work, 24...