The Highland Park ISD Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a 5 percent pay raise, at a minimum, for district teachers and staff for the 2022-23 school year. The raise is the second significant pay increase for district staff since the passage of the Voter Approved Tax Ratification (Golden Penny) Election last fall. The approval of the salary increase took place during last night's regular meeting of the HPISD Board of Trustees.
During the current school year, teachers and staff received a 3 percent salary boost, meaning HPISD staff salaries will increase a total of 8 percent over a two-year period. Similar to the current school year, HPISD staff will also receive an additional one-time payment in November.
“Our teachers and staff highly deserve this increase in salary and we are pleased that we can let them know of our commitment to them prior to the end of the school year,” HPISD Board President Tom Sharpe said. “Combined with the current school year increase, it is safe to say that this is the largest-ever 2-year increase in teacher and staff salaries in HPISD. Thank you to our community for its approval of the Golden Penny election to enable additional revenue to be raised to support our valued teachers and staff members.”
Next year’s 5 percent increase will come from the following:
- 2 percent will come from the revenue initially projected as a result of the Golden Penny election.
- 1 percent will come from additional revenue generated by increased taxable appraised values through the four Golden Pennies.
- 1 percent will come from other revenue sources and cost saving measures, along with additional revenue generated by the district’s original four golden pennies that were in place prior to last fall’s election.
- 1 percent will be provided by the Highland Park Education Foundation (HPEF), which has committed to raise $1.7 million, up from $1.2 million, during next year’s annual Mad for Plaid campaign along with funds from HPEF’s Tartan Endowment.
“The entire HPISD community has stepped up in a major way to support our teachers and staff,” HPISD Superintendent Dr. Tom Trigg said. “Special thanks to the Highland Park Education Foundation for committing to increase its 2022-23 gift from $1.2 million to $1.7 million. A pay increase of 5 percent sends a very strong statement to our teachers and staff.”
“The Foundation is energized by this opportunity to strategically do more for our district,” HPEF board president Michael Denton said. “While we will still have to fundraise the $1.7 million to meet this request, we are confident that our community will rally behind next year’s Mad for Plaid campaign knowing the impact that it will have on teacher pay.”
The 5 percent pay increase for all staff will be based on the midpoint range for each salary. Should additional revenue become available, there is a possibility that salaries could rise even higher.
In addition to the salary increases, starting pay for HPISD teachers will go from $52,500 to $56,000. Equity adjustments will also be made for certain special education professionals, including licensed specialists in school psychology, educational diagnosticians, speech language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, special education coordinators and school counselors. School custodians will also see a 5 percent boost in pay, in addition to an increase of $0.80 an hour.
The pay raises will go into effect at the beginning of the 2022-23 contract year.