Liberty-Eylau Independent School District's Board of Trustees approved the 2019-20 salary schedules, the June financial statement and the district's discipline grid during their regular meeting Thursday.
Superintendent Ronnie Thompson said the changes to the salary schedules reflected additional funds House Bill 3, recently passed by the Texas Legislature, will provide to districts for employee salary increases.
"It looks good," he said. "I think the teachers will be happy." The scale has new teachers with zero years of experience beginning at $41,000 annually, with increases for each year of experience. Teachers who have 10 years of experience will make $50,470, those with 20 years of experience will make $59,241 and those with 25 or more years will make $61,741 annually.
Board Member Scott Bergt was vocal in his support for the increase.
"It's about time teachers get what they deserve," he told the board.
Thompson said he hopes the salary increase will help attract quality employees to work in education.
"I'm hoping it will bring more people into the field," he said. "Fewer and fewer people have been going into education. It's going to take a while to close that gap, but I know we will get good people in the classrooms."
In other business, L-EISD Business Manager Susie Byrd said the district had collected $75,000 more in taxes than they had anticipated and that the district entered the month of June with a total of $7.5 million in total cash and investments. She said they have collected $23 million in revenue as of June 30 and out of that, $6.9 million is in local funds, $16 million is in state funds and $450,000 is in federal program revenues. She said the district has collected $138,000 on interest and penalties on past due taxes and also collected $75,000 more in taxes than they had budgeted.
The discipline grid was presented by Jeff Wright, assistant superintendent of operations. He said the discipline grid was last changed in 2016 and that the new one contains minor changes.
Thompson also told the board about summer projects the district was working on, which include new concrete at the middle school bus turnaround, drainage at the middle school and paving of the basketball area, repaving the visitor lot entrance at the football stadium and the band practice lot, plumbing and cabinet upgrades in the cosmetology lab at the high school and remodeling restrooms in the pre-K area of the Early Childhood Center.
Thompson also said the city has put in sidewalks and a crosswalk at Norris Cooley Drive and Robison Road in front of the Early Childhood Center.
"That new addition is going to be great for our parents," he said. "A lot of them walk their students to school up that street every day. Now with the sidewalk, there will be a safe place for students to walk."
Repainting has also been done at the Rader Dome and is continuing at the middle school gym and new fencing will be put up at the tennis courts.