Columbia County School District held its first public input meeting on Thursday morning, May 2, to discuss a 2024-25 proposed budget, which includes a salary increase for certified teachers.
Hosted at the Columbia County Board of Education building, located at 4781 Hereford Farm Road, the meeting was streamed online for locals and led by district Superintendent Steven Flynt.
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To remain competitive with other counties and career fields, Flynt said a large portion of the 2024-25 budget will center around raising teacher salaries to compensate for economic inflation.
Despite a 5% increase in pay for all employees in 2022 and a $2,000 increase in pay for certified teachers in 2023, Flynt said the county’s annual step increases have still not adequately compensated for rising costs of living.
While the state mandated an increase in school worker benefits, such as health insurance for certified educators, Flynt suggested the county also consider providing a local $500 incentive for certified teachers, in addition to the $2,500 pay increase funded by the state.
Regardless of nationwide challenges to retaining and hiring new teachers, in April’s regular Board of Education session, Flynt said Columbia County has been fortunate to consistently fill most vacancies by attracting educators from various areas.
Trying to go above and beyond providing livable wages for teachers, Flynt said the county should also implement the budget’s salary changes to sustain the county’s positive work environment, which he believes will reflect on teacher enthusiasm and ultimately student engagement.
“Even though we’ve been providing a number of increases over the years, we still haven’t been able to keep up with the rate of inflation,” he said. “But it is something we can do to say thank you to our teachers, and hopefully keep the best teachers here in the Columbia County School District.”
As the cost of state mandated health insurance benefits increase due to inflation, Flynt emphasized the most challenging portion of the budget would include a $4.5 million annual change in employee expenses.
Flynt said this expensive change was the result of the state not providing funds for non-certified teachers’ benefits, which will cause the district’s budget to tighten.
At the conclusion of the meeting, with over 30 online streamers watching, Flynt opened up the floor for public discussion, however no in-person attendees requested to speak.
“I think it’s important to have public input in any number of ways across the school district, included in the budget,” Flynt said following the budget meeting. “If there are questions, we need to be able to effectively answer those questions.”
The next public budget presentation meeting will once again take place within the Board of Education building on May 14 at 4:30 p.m.
Following the second meeting, if no major changes are suggested by community participants, Flynt will ask the board for tentative approval of the proposed 2024-25 budget.
“It’s a time for people who live in the community to talk to their local officials that are in-charge of the governance of this school district,” Flynt said. “I think it’s important for us to be open and transparent about it.”
The board will then make a final budget ruling on May 28 at the district’s next regular monthly session at 5:30 p.m.
All meetings will also be livestreamed for at-home viewers at https://bit.ly/ccsdlive
To view the entire proposed budget and the district’s past spending history, visit: https://www.ccboe.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1197234&type=d&pREC_ID=1440083
Questions or comments regarding the budget may be emailed to Columbia County School District officials at contactus@ccboe.net
