Round Rock ISD board approves compensation plan that boosts teacher salaries by 4%

ROUND ROCK, Texas - Round Rock ISD has joined other Central Texas school districts in increasing teacher and staff wages to remain competitive and retain employees.

During a recent meeting, the district's board of trustees approved a new compensation plan which included a four-percent pay increase with a starting salary of $52,600 for teachers and librarians. All teachers and librarians will see an increase of at least $2,250 in their annual salary.

Other increases include a three-percent general pay increase for administrative support and operations support and a two-percent general pay increase for instructional support and other positions in technology, business, and police services, says the district.

Instructional support positions, which primarily include educational assistants, received an immediate pay increase effective April 1, with raises ranging from 10-18 percent. The general two-percent increase for 2022-2023 is on top of that boost in pay, says Round Rock ISD.

"All of our staff members have worked incredibly hard and faced crushing challenges over the past two years. But, through it all, our students have remained the focus, and we want to do all we can to pay our staff, especially our teachers, competitively so they remain a part of the Round Rock ISD team," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Hafedh Azaiez said in a release. "However, we know we have a long way to go to ensure educators are compensated fairly. We will continue working with Texas legislators to advocate for more funding for public education and create avenues to boost teacher salaries."

The district says that a Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) compensation study found that while teachers in Round Rock ISD with 10 to 20 years of experience were at or above the local market median, beginning teachers and those with up to five years of experience were below market. The new plan aligns those salaries with the market median. 

Round Rock ISD says that the salary increases will cost $15.2 million. The current 2021-22 budget for the district is $444,530,000.