Certified teacher pay bump coming in Terrebonne

Certified teachers in Terrebonne Parish will get a $4,000 salary increase starting this coming school year, thanks to voters who approved a half-cent sales tax for that purpose last December.

According to Becky Breaux, the school system’s chief financial officer, every full-time employee will get a raise, with the exception of the superintendent. Teachers who are on the teacher pay scale will get the full $4,000; the salary of non-certified teachers will not change.

Breaux said the parish averages around 1,600 teachers each school year, and the number depends on enrollment. Most of those, she said are certified and the goal is to have all certified teachers for the 2015-16 school year. However, a memo sent last week from the system’s personnel supervisor Debra Yarbrough, to degreed, non-certified teachers indicated that no raise will be given to them “until the teacher becomes certified or practitioner eligible.”

Other system employees, like bus drivers, custodial workers, office staff and cafeteria workers will get a $2,000 increase, according to Roosevelt Thomas, the school board president. Non-certified teachers don’t qualify for the increase, Thomas said, and the raise should be an incentive for them to get certified. New teachers coming in, who are certified, will also see the benefit of the increased salary.

Yarbrough said about 75 new teachers have been hired for the upcoming school year.

Thomas said he’s talked to teachers who are “coming back” from other parishes to teach in Terrebonne because of the money. He is hopeful the raise will also help curb shortages for teachers in the core classes like language arts, mathematics and science.

Superintendent Philip Martin’s salary increase was expected to be approved at last night’s meeting. The results of the vote were not available as of press time. A one-time increase for Martin of more than $40,000 has been proposed, which would bring his annual salary from $143,500 to $185,000. Martin has not had a raise in his seven years as superintendent.

“There will be opposition to that,” Thomas said, “but we’re not really giving a raise to Martin, it’s the position that needs the increase. Sure, Martin will benefit, but in three years when we’re looking for a new superintendent, we will have to pay more than what Martin is currently getting.”

In Lafourche Parish, a proposed raise for school Superintendent JoAnn Matthews brings her annual salary to approximately $220,000 annually. “She’s well worth the money she’s getting paid,” Thomas said. The increase would put Matthews among the highest paid superintendents in the state, according to the latest data available from the State Department of Education. East Baton Rouge pays $231,750 and Jefferson Parish pays its superintendent $248,000. In Catahoula Parish, the salary is less than $100,000. The St. Charles superintendent earns $280,000 annually. Some parishes offer other benefits, like automobiles and insurance payments, which are reflected in salary amounts.

Thomas said the assistant superintendent, Carol Davis, is retiring at the end of next month. A decision, he said, about replacing her won’t take place until school starts in the fall. Martin may decide to dole out the assistant’s duties to others, or he may opt to replace her, Thomas said.

Thomas also said the school district would also benefit from hiring a public information officer.

Many people are “living in the Stone Age,” he said and think that no one should get paid. “They think people should work for a minimum salary, without benefit of a raise. We have to move forward.”