Columbia School District administrators will be receiving an increase in pay based on their educational certifications after the school board approved a new salary schedule Wednesday.
Previously Columbia administrators were being compensated $750 for specialist degrees. But after conducting some research on surrounding school districts, the board discovered others were compensating their administrators $1,500 for a specialist degree and $2,500 for a PhD.
That led the board to unanimously approve a motion to raise its compensation to be directly in line with competing districts.
Superintendent Jason Harris said that it would be the only change for its administrators across the board and that any other salary increases for next year will hinge on results and accountability.
“We increased people who have a specialist degree or PhD to come up in line with our other adjacent districts. That’s the only change,” he said.
Also Wednesday,
• Columbia High School’s Ashley Haddox will no longer be the cheer sponsor as she transitions into her new role as assistant principal at Jefferson Middle School.
• The district unanimously approved the hiring of John Henry Johnson as a maintenance supervisor and Derek Jones as the district network specialist.
• The board also discussed pay raises for assistant teachers. The state floor for their salaries was increased from $12,500 to $14,000 as part of the statewide pay raises for teachers. However, since the district already paid its teacher assistants higher than the state floor, there was some concern they wouldn’t be getting raises. Harris quelled that notion by stating they would all be receiving a true $1,500 raise despite already making more than the state minimum.
