Spartanburg District Five teachers and staff will receive a major raise this school year, just one way the district plans to thank employees for their hard work and dedication. The significant pay increase is included in the district’s 2023-24 budget, unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees in a meeting Monday night. The $130,183,150 budget represents a 12.7% increase over the previous fiscal year, and marks the 14th consecutive year District Five has passed a budget with no millage increase for general operations.
As part of the budget, all teachers on the District Five teacher salary scale will receive an increase of $2500 in their salary, in addition to their annual step raise. All other District Five employees will receive an increase to their pay, comparable to the teacher raise, in addition to their annual step increase. Those additional employee pay increases are as follows:
- 15% increase (State Mandated) for eligible Bus Drivers (plus step)
- 4% increase for eligible Administrators (plus step)
- 5% for all other eligible staff (plus step)
“Our teachers and staff work extremely hard, and they deserve to be rewarded for how they impact our students every day,” says Superintendent Dr. Randall Gary. “This is just one way we can show them our appreciation.”
This year’s budget also gives a big boost to the district’s recruitment and retention efforts, increasing all salary schedules by 3 additional steps, raising the maximum years on each scale from 31 to 34 years. In addition, District Five, along with all Spartanburg County school districts, is adding increases to the pay cells at the top of the teacher salary scale, beginning with steps 18 and 19. This is a major move in making Spartanburg County’s teacher salary scale competitive with neighboring districts, and others statewide, as well as ensuring experienced teachers continue to receive a step increase. The step changes are as follows:
- Teacher Salary Schedule Steps 18 and 19 incremented to 2>#/li###
- Teacher Salary Schedule Steps 20 and above incremented to 1>#/li###
“South Carolina is in a crisis, when it comes to recruiting and retaining teachers,” says Dr. Gary. “It’s imperative that we continue to work to keep outstanding educators in the classroom.”
As District Five remains one of the fastest growing school districts in the Upstate and South Carolina, the new budget reflects increasing student enrollment. At more than 10,300 students, the budget ensures new staff and programs for each of the district’s 12 schools to accommodate its growing population.
Other significant budget highlights include:
- 72.5 new positions districtwide to accommodate enormous growth and provide additional support
- Employee bonus increase from $200 to $250 annually
- PRAXIS Exam reimbursements for teachers
- More than $200,000 to support increases and upgrades to school security
The budget, in its entirety, can be viewed here.