Caddo School Board proposed pay raise draws criticism

The board will take up the matter at its monthly meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Under the proposal, employees would receive a 6% salary increase along with an annual stipend. Because the raise is calculated as a percentage of current salaries, employees at higher pay levels would receive larger increases than those earning less.

For example, the average teacher salary in the district is approximately $50,000, meaning a 6% raise would amount to about $3,000 annually. Employees at the highest end of the pay scale would receive substantially larger increases, while workers earning around $25,000 a year would receive significantly less.

School Board member Terence Vinson said he would prefer to see funds allocated toward permanent salary increases rather than stipends.

“I think it's just fitting to ensure that the folks who are boots on the ground every single day get the most raise at this particular time,” Vinson said. “It's really fitting that our governor has outlined in his plan that he wants to ensure that those dollars go directly to school sites.”

Board member Jasmine Green also expressed concerns about how the raises would be distributed, saying she would like to see more of the funding redirected from higher-paid employees to those at the lower end of the salary scale.

The proposal has also drawn criticism from the Red River United teachers union. Union President Jordan Thomas said a tiered pay structure would better support employee recruitment and retention.

“It should have been a tiered pay raise to ensure that we have the highest qualified staff working with students every day,” Thomas said.