BY KENDYL HOLLINGSWORTH
KENDYLH@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
LEE COUNTY —
Teachers in the Lee County Schools system can expect a pay raise starting as early as July 1, thanks to a vote of approval by the Board of Education at its June 13 meeting.
The Alabama State Department of Education recommends similar pay increases on a regular basis — just about every year for the past few years, according to Lee County Schools Superintendent Mac McCoy.
“This is just something we have done each year, that we get the pay raise from the state,” McCoy said. “My recommendation is to approve the [state’s] recommendation for pay raise and [have it] be applied all through the county.”
Data from the Alabama State Department of Education shows that the average salary for teachers in Lee County Schools was just shy of $59,000 during the 2022-23 school year. A news release from the office of Gov. Kay Ivey said the most recent pay raise marks a total 15% increase since her time in office.
“Every year since I have been governor, I have proposed a pay increase for our educators, and because of our work with the Legislature, Alabama has increased base salary for teachers by about $6,000 during that time,” she said in the release. “As I stated during my state of the state address, my goal is to have the starting salary for all Alabama teachers to be the highest in the Southeast by the end of my term.”
According to the meeting agenda for the Lee County school board, the recommendation accounts for a pay raise for all personnel — including extended contracts and locally funded personnel — and will be effective with new contracts starting July 1, Aug. 1 and Sept. 1. The school system is set to begin receiving state funds earmarked for this pay increase this coming October, but local funds will cover the pay raises for locally funded teachers and other employees.
Funds, bids and budgeting were the central topic of the June 13 meeting. The board also approved an amendment to the budget for fiscal year 2023 and approved two multi-million-dollar bids related to technology.
The first bid the board approved June 13 was to PC Solutions for a little over $2 million. The bid was for internal switching request for proposal (RFP).
The second bid the board approved was to Bluum for Chromebook RFP for just under $4 million.
In response to a question from District 6 Board Member Larry Patterson, Lee County Chief School Financial Officer Ken Roberts said the bid process isn’t anything new or unusual.
“We implemented what we call a ‘competitive procurement process,’” Roberts explained. “It’s just a fancy federal term for a sealed bid process, which is very similar to what we do for other sealed bids that you’re accustomed to.”
Roberts also gave his monthly financial report, this time for April 2023.
According to the report, revenue is up 5.6% and expenses are up 8.9% in the first eight months of the fiscal year, compared to this time last year.
The revenue is a little higher mostly because local revenue is up 8%, Roberts said, but added that the numbers are in line with expectations. He also said increased expenses are due to compensation — up to 7% out of the 8.9%. That’s mostly paid for by state raises and federal budgets.
Patterson asked if the financial reports are beginning to show benefits from the new Buc-ee’s location in Auburn, but Roberts said it’ll be a few months before those benefits show up in the data.
“I’m sure we’ll see something there,” Roberts said. “… It’s about three months from the day you start sales to the time you receive it, especially for a new business. For an existing business, [it’s about] two months from the time the taxpayer walks in and buys the Cheetos and the time it makes it into our pockets — two to three months, depending.”
Roberts said he expects to see an overall increase in collections from taxes in the next two to three months. He also shared a steep increase in interest revenue, which he attributed to being “creative with cash flow” a little more than usual.
“We’re not doing anything other than investing in CDs, enhanced money market accounts; we do invest in some short-term treasuries, but … we’re not doing these things outside our risk tolerance,” he said.
In other business, the board approved one student expulsion and various human resources recommendations, with District 2 Board Member Rusty Courson abstaining from one item related to human resources and District 7 Board Member Napoleon Stringer abstaining from another. District 3 Board Member Richard Brown Sr. was absent from the meeting.
The board is set to meet next on July 11 at 6 p.m.
