Hays CISD approves amended employee compensation plan

The Hays CISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the 2021-2022 compensation plan on Monday.

District campuses will see a pay raise for crossing guards, lunchroom monitors and substitute teachers; a reduction to the number of service years a counselor needs to receive maximum salary; an adjustment to stipend amounts for bilingual teachers; and a paid COVID-19 sick leave for employees and their school-age children.

“This is another wonderful benefit we are giving to our employees,” Board Trustee Esperanza Orosco said. “We are an amazing employee-friendly organization.”

Substitute teachers’ pay rate increase to $13.75 an hour or $110 a day ensures guest teachers earn more than the minimum paraprofessional salary and better aligns with the market, according to the district. Crossing guards and lunchroom monitors will earn a minimum hourly rate of $14.03, aligning with prior changes to the compensation plan.

Along with the fiscal cost of approximately $146,000 for the amendments, all employees and/or their children are allotted a onetime benefit of up to 10 paid leave days for a COVID-19 quarantine. The leave is available through June 30, 2022, and retroactive to July 1, 2021.

According to Hays CISD HR Chief Fernando Medina, the Hays CISD Human Resources department will evaluate the need for market and equity adjustments in all areas of employment the next annual budgeting process for 2022-2023.