Vermilion Parish School Board expected to approve giving pay raise to all employees

The Vermilion Parish School Board will vote Thursday on giving all employees a pay raise that will cost the school district just under $2 million.
Superintendent Tommy Byler addressed board members during Monday’s Committee of the Whole Meeting. Byler presented how his department devised a way to give teachers and administrators a $ 1,500-a-year pay raise. Also, the support staff will get a $ 750-a-year pay raise.
“This was the only number we could afford,” Byler said. “This is what we could do.”
If approved, the salary for a first year teacher will be $44,400 a year.
Byler said the school district could give raises because of all of the cost-cutting measures administrators and department heads have been able to find over the last year.
The Superintendent also informed the board members that there are 10 staffing positions on the books that are being taken off the books. Those positions have either been combined with other positions or just not filled over the years.
Eliminating 10 staff positions will save the school district $700,000 million.
Byler said the raise is necessary to hire certified teachers. Vermilion ranks 11th in the region in pay and seventh out of eighth in Acadiana.
“My vision from day one was for us to be competitive in the market with salary schedules,” said Byler. “When I took this job, we were going to find a way to give raises. This is not the amount I was hoping for. But it is something.”
Not counting a state-given raise, it has been 14 years since the school board approved a pay raise for its employees.
The school board will vote on the raise at Thursday’s meeting. If approved, school employees will begin getting the raise next school year.
School Board member Jason Roy thanked the Superintendent but added, “I do not think the raise is enough. We are the best district around but thousands of dollars behind.
“If uncertified teachers are teaching you, what good does the raise do?” Roy said. “This parish is always a step behind.”
Roy said he would rather see 28 students in a classroom being taught by a certified teacher than less students in a school taught by a non-certified teacher.
The school district had around 100 non-certified teachers in the classroom this school year. That is the most ever.
Byler also informed the school board that a non-certified teacher would remain at Step 0 and receive the lowest teacher pay despite how long they teach in the school system. The non-certified teacher will only see a pay increase when they become certified, Byler explained.