The Pineville Independent Board of Education unanimously approved an increase in pay for all certified staff and classified employees at their regular May meeting last week.

Teachers and other certified staff will see a 5% raise while classified employees are getting a $1.00 per hour raise. This is the fourth straight year Pineville’s school board has approved raises. Over that time teachers have seen their pay increase by a total of 13% with classified staff seeing an overall increase of $4.00 per hour.

“The single most critical aspect in the quality of education is the quality of the teachers so we’ve got to do everything we can to attract and hold the best teachers that we can,” board chairman J.R. Golden said.

Superintendent Russell Thompson agreed and said the salary increases show a continued investment into the academic success of Pineville’s students.

“With this being our fourth straight year of giving raises, we’re right there and competitive with all of the surrounding districts in what we’re paying our faculty and staff,” he said.

To help school boards across the state address teacher and staff shortages, the Legislature approved an in SEEK funding for all schools during their session this spring. Thompson explained to the board that for Pineville that meant an additional $160,000 for the next school year. The total cost of the raises is $155,000.

During a discussion about the pay increase, Thompson was asked if the teacher raise was mandated by the Legislature.

“No. Several legislators asked the schools how we would like to get the funding and my understanding is that the superintendents agreed that they would like to receive it through SEEK funding,” he said. “That way it’s not a mandate and each board can do what is best for their district.”

The board also approved Pay Application #01 for work being done on the athletic field renovation and the first change order for the project for up to $60,000. Architect Ben Boggs explained that revisions had to be made to the storm drainage system under the field to align with the utility