By Janine Davis Record Staff Writer A part of the Wright City R-II school district’s proposed 2014-2015 budget is a message for high-performing teachers and staff: Wright City wants to keep you. The proposed salaries for teacher and staff — which will be locked in next month as the district adopts the 2014-2015 budget — offer more take-home pay and a new vision insurance plan that will help close the competitive gap with other districts competing for great teachers. “Our salary study found that the longer a person stays in the district, the less competitive their salary is, so we’re putting more funds into the middle and higher experience levels of our staff where it’s needed,” said R-II District Superintendent Dr. Chris Gaines. As part of its ongoing effort to become a more competitive employer, the district plans to include a 2.29 percent base salary increase in next year’s budget and increase the value of salaries for those teachers who gain a master’s degree to an incremental $4,500. The district also will bump up steps $1,000 immediately among more experienced staff whose pay indexes are lower than in other districts. Gaines said he hopes to get all steps up $1,000 over time. In proposing these increases, Gaines said that the district is following recommendations of a salary study group to keep closing the teacher pay gap relative to surrounding schools, especially to the east. “One of the things we’ve talked about is the fact that we’re behind, and if we give the same percentage as everybody else, we stay behind since we’d be giving the same percentage of a smaller number,” said Gaines. “Based on what we know, our planned increases would allow us to play catch-up,” added Gaines. Last week, he reported to the board that health insurance claims had decreased by 6 percent, or by $32 per month per covered employee over the past year — a savings of just under $74,000. “We’re in a good spot to offer employees a vision insurance plan next year,” said Gaines. Quality teaching has helped Wright City gain strong recognition as one of the state’s top student achievement success stories, going from having one of 22 tested areas above state average in 2010 to 17 of 22 above state average in 2013 say school officials. Since 2010, the R-II district is one of the most improved in Missouri. Out of 522 districts in the state, R-II has gone from a 499 test score ranking in 2010 to 156 in 2013.
R-II to increase teacher salaries
