Higley USD is proposing using education sales tax money to increase some employees’ base pay as much as 11% while the governing board approved a substantial bump in substitute pay at its Sept. 21 meeting.
The raises would come by applying some Classroom Site Fund money to other funds to increase base pay, a maneuver that HUSD officials has been used in other districts but is new for Higley.
Classroom Site Fund money comes from a $0.06 education sales tax approved by Arizona voters in 2000 as Proposition 301. In the past, HUSD used the money to fund performance-based pay.
The raises would go to certified teachers and other non-administrative certified positions. They come on top of 7% raises the district gave employees for this fiscal year.
In response to a question from Board Member Jill Wilson, HUSD Chief Financial Officer Tyler Moore said the district had the money to sustain the raise over at least the next five years even if an economic crash resulted in a decline in Classroom Site Fund revenues.
Additionally, the governing board unanimously approved a district proposal to raise substitute pay. The district also gave raises for substitutes last fiscal year, but Human Resources Executive Director Mum Martens said corresponding raises in other districts still left HUSD’s sub pay lagging behind competing districts.
The raises are from $125 to $165 for daily pay and from $145 to $185 for long-term substitute pay. Additionally, retired HUSD certified teachers will be guaranteed the $185 rate, as will subs who accept assignments on the hard-to-fill days of Mondays and Fridays.
Martens said teachers in the district’s substitute pool told the district they were not accepting HUSD assignments because of rates at surrounding districts. However, the district’s fill rate for substitutes this year has been at 70% this year and even higher recently, Martens said.
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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