BRUNSWICK COUNTY — Brunswick County Schools has approved making continued investments into compensation improvements for its staff members.
During a committee meeting this week, the board approved making an increase in the district’s local supplement by $1,000 for all teachers a top priority for the upcoming budget. The decision comes during a school year when the system has added a combined $3 million to its supplement budget paid to employees in addition to state-issued funds.
In all, recent investments since last year have more than doubled the district’s total local supplement fund.
Public school employees are paid through a combination of state and local funds. State funds make up the bulk of teachers’ salaries, with local supplements generally addressing cost of living and other localized adjustments.
Local funds are administered from counties, determined by local school systems, and vary from district to district. According to the National Education Association, North Carolina ranks 29th in the nation in teacher pay over the 2018-2019 academic year (up from 34th the year prior) with an average salary of around $54,000.
For the 2019-2020 school year, a beginning teacher with a bachelor’s degree will earn an annual state salary of $35,000. That salary is capped by the state at $52,000 after 25 or more years of experience for teachers with a bachelor’s degree; at $57,200 for teachers with a master’s degree; at $59,970 for teachers with a doctorate.
In 2017, Brunswick County Schools conducted a salary study through a consultant. The main findings: beginning BCS employees were being trained only to leave for higher pay in private industry or county government, draining resources spent developing new hires; principals had no incentive to move into Central Services leadership positions; BCS had difficulty attracting qualified applicants.
Beginning in April 2019, BCS implemented the first phase of the study’s recommendations, directing an additional $600,000 into staff salaries. By October, the district added another $1.2 million to salaries with phase two. Both phases reorganized pay tables, adjusting and increasing salaries for all employees.
This week’s Operations Committee decision will add yet another $1.2 million into the local supplement fund, totaling $3 million added since 2019. In total, the local supplement budget at BCS has more than doubled as a result of these investments, now totaling $5.1 million.
Competing with Horry County
At the board’s regular meeting Feb. 4, board member Harry Lemon aired frustrations with the state’s current salary schedule, which he said doesn’t compete with the neighboring Horry County in South Carolina.
Lemon tied difficulty with filling math and exceptional children teachers to salary issues district-wide. “We have to come up with a plan to address, not only these critical areas but recruiting teachers and retaining teachers overall,” he said.
Comparatively, Horry County teachers make more than Brunswick County teachers in all categories. The differences are somewhat small for beginning employees but become starker for employees with experience bonuses and with advanced degrees.
“Our legislature has capped what a teacher can make,” Lemon said. “Who in the world wants to go in teaching when you can’t advance yourself?”
With 27 or more years of experience for a teacher with a doctorate, pay is capped in Horry County at $82,982. In North Carolina, that teacher is capped at $59,970.
“And we’re supposed to compete with those statistics for teachers with a county right to us — next to us like that? If we don’t come up with some kind of plan to retain teachers and recruit teachers, we’re not going to have any. Because who wants to teach?”
The new $1,000 local supplement schedule goes into effect July 1, should it be approved in the upcoming budget.
Send tips and comments to Johanna Ferebee Still at [email protected]
