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Teachers to Receive 3 Percent Increase

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 24--SOUTHLAKE -- Teachers will receive a 3 percent raise under a $73.3 million budget that Carroll school district trustees adopted Tuesday.

Other employees will receive a 2.5 percent pay increase, officials said.

Last year, the district could only offer salary step increases to teachers.

But the budget outlook has improved, partly because taxable values were higher than expected, said Sharon Eaves, the district's chief financial officer.

The new budget also includes an $8,000 salary increase for head football coach Todd Dodge. In 2004, Dodge led the Dragons to the Class 5A Division II championship and a 16-0 record. He was named the Adams USA National Head Coach of the Year, which honors the top high school football coach in the country.

The raise puts Dodge's salary into the $89,000 range, said Derek Citty, chief personnel officer.

"He is still being paid under market value," Citty said.

Dodge's raise was among several approved for employees who were not properly placed on the pay scale when they were hired.

The budget also includes higher stipends for head coaches, assistant coaches, trainers and band directors. For example, the stipend for a varsity coach goes up by $500 to $5,400. An assistant coaches' stipend will now be $4,700.

No one spoke about the budget during the public hearing portion of the meeting.

The spending plan calls for no tax increase. Carroll's tax rate currently stands at $1.50 per $100 of assessed property valuation, the maximum amount allowed in Texas for maintenance and operations expenses. But homeowners whose property values have increased will still pay larger tax bills.

The $73 million budget includes a temporary $4 million line of credit that the district plans to arrange with a bank.

"It's really just for cash flow, until people start paying their tax bills," said Julie Thannum, Carroll spokeswoman.

Without the $4 million credit line, Carroll's budget would be $69.3 million. That makes the spending plan 3.9 percent higher than the $66.7 million budget for 2004-05.

During a workshop Saturday, trustees agreed to restore elementary school counseling positions to full-time status, after trimming them to part-time last year as part of $6 million in cuts from the 2004-05 budget.

The new budget will allow $1.5 million to be added to Carroll's fund balance, a type of savings account.

The district saved $1.2 million by delaying the start of school until Aug. 29. In 2004, the first day of school was Aug. 16.

Also under the budget, Carroll officials expect the district's Robin Hood payment to increase from $15.4 million last year to $16.8 million in 2005-06, if the current state funding system remains intact. The Legislature has been unable to agree on how to revamp school funding.

The Robin Hood system takes money from property-wealthy districts such as Carroll and distributes it to property-poor school districts.

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Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

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