Proposition Wildcat Pride to increase teacher retention

 

By Shari Harris

Publisher

The Licking R-VIII School District will have the following question on the August 6 ballot:

“Should the Licking R-VIII School District of Texas County, Missouri, be authorized to increase the operating tax levy by $0.49 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation according to the 2024 assessment to provide salary increases to employees of the District and pay general operating expenses?”

In response to the question, “Why is it necessary?” several points have been expressed.

• The state has mandated a $40,000 per year base pay salary for starting teachers in Missouri. They have been offering temporary grants to help districts meet this mandate, but the upward movement of pay scales of all current teachers also has to be considered. In addition, the grants are temporary, and schools will have to absorb this pay increase into their budgets.

• Minimum wage is increasing yearly, also creating upward movement in non-certified pay scales.

• Quality teachers and staff are being drawn away by larger school districts with greater resources and higher wages, and four-day per week school districts offering the incentive of the additional day off each week.

• Equal or better paying jobs outside of education, which are less challenging and/or require less after-hours work, lure away some teachers. Challenges in classrooms continue to increase due to societal changes and increased student distractions, and evening and weekend work on lesson plans and grading is a frequent occurrence for teachers.

Why is it so important to retain hard working, dedicated, excellent staff?

• Research shows that the greatest factor in student achievement is an excellent teacher,” stated District Superintendent Telena Haneline.

• Perhaps more than ever before, it has become necessary for schools to teach life skills and lessons in character. Teachers need to be good role models and really care. Turnover needs to be reduced.

Though 81 percent of all district funds goes toward staff salaries/wages and benefits, other operating expenses include maintaining the aging district facilities, which require more funds to maintain each year. It is also costly to maintain the bus fleet, which travels approximately 1,700 miles each day (with over half of that distance on gravel roads), and the district has to rotate new buses into the fleet as older ones must be retired.

Most surrounding area school districts have higher operating tax levies than the R-VIII District, including some of the K-8 districts. Licking schools have remained at the lowest tax levy revenue allowed by state law, and have carefully monitored spending. It has been 51 years (1973) since a bond issue or tax levy increase was approved by voters. But the Board of Education and administrators say they have reached the point where it is no longer feasible at the current operating tax levy to pay appropriate salaries and wages which will retain good, quality staff.

The district hosted several community meetings over the past months, and they discussed the proposed increase with business owners, community members and land owners. Based on their feedback, the board settled on the $0.49 operating levy increase. It is an amount they feel will allow them to establish salaries and wages that will attract and retain quality staff members.

If Proposition Wildcat Pride is approved, the adjusted operating tax levy ceiling of the school district is estimated to be at $3.24 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

To learn how the levy increase would affect your tax bill, go to the school’s website at https://5il.co/2nnvj.