August 29, 2019
Crowley ISD is making a change to the current 2019-2020 employee compensation plan that will include permanent salary increases for all employees. These permanent salary increases will replace the two extra payments for all employees that were previously approved in June by the CISD Board of Trustees.
The total amount, pre-tax, of the permanent salary increases will remain the same as the payment amounts previously approved by the school board, but these increases will now be permanent, distributed in each monthly paycheck and submitted to TRS for the benefit of employees’ retirement calculation.
This change is being made because the Texas Education (TEA) has since provided additional clarification regarding House Bill 3 (HB 3), the new school finance law that provides districts additional funds to pay teachers, librarians, nurses and counselors. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath now says the legislative intent of HB 3 was to provide permanent increases in pay, not additional one-time payments.
As a result of this guidance from TEA, the district’s previous decision to provide two extra payments representing 3-4% of employees’ annual salaries for all district staff in November and March is being reversed, and that compensation will now be included in employees’ salaries permanently, reflected in monthly paychecks. Employees who have already received 2019-20 compensation in their July and August paychecks will receive retroactive payment in their September paycheck.
Crowley ISD is one of many school districts across the state that is making changes or amendments to its employee compensation plan, due to HB 3.
“Since our district has a July 1 fiscal start, we had to approve our compensation plan and budget when details about HB 3 were still being finalized,” Superintendent Dr. Michael McFarland said. “Now with this additional information from TEA, we are making these salary increases permanent so that our dedicated, hardworking employees will receive additional compensation in every paycheck, every month.”
“Crowley ISD is committed to maintaining competitive salaries and is proud to exceed the new state compensation requirements with these permanent salary increases,” McFarland said.
The district’s budget also includes funding for the new Employee Health Care Clinic that is now open. For a minimal, out-of-pocket fee of $10 per visit, eligible employees and their dependents will be able to visit the Texas Health Physicians Group clinic for a wide variety of common "in-scope" clinical services, such as treating sinus infections or colds, among many other ailments.
