The Warren County R-III School District announced the details of its updated salary schedule for the 2016-2017 school year during the monthly board meeting June 2.Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Aaron Jones and Chief Finance Officer Tony Chance worked alongside members of the R-III Teachers’ Association to determine the new numbers.“We want to be competitive with area schools on our base salaries to attract the best people, as well as take care of our employees that are already here,” said Jones. “That becomes a big puzzle piece, as to where to put the money and keep the salary schedule balanced.”The salary scale proposed a $350 increase to the base rate for newly-hired teachers. This brings the beginning pay for a bachelor’s level teacher to $35,950. Two particular areas the district looked to honor were longevity and willingness to attain additional certification, such as a masters or doctorate degree. There are four additional levels which offer the potential for earning additional income. They are a bachelors degree plus 15 hours of certification, a masters degree, a masters degree plus 15 hours or a masters degree plus 30 hours.Incorporated into the schedule were both step and super-step increases, with the lowest teacher raises being $750 and the highest being $1,250. The high-end pay for a teacher on step 28 with a masters degree plus 30 hours is $68,275.The R-III district faces a continuous dilemma in its effort to retain quality teachers with neighboring counties being better equipped to offer more enticing salaries and benefits.“That is a big concern across the district,” said Jones. “In a community like ours, it’s hard to compete with the tax base they have in St. Charles County when it comes to salaries. With continued growth, those schools are always looking for young, experienced teachers.”Jones says there are many variables to take into consideration, including where local revenue is coming in figure wise and attendance numbers.“This year insurance premiums went up 3 percent,” said Jones. “That’s definitely an added cost that you have to look at ahead of time, because we want to make sure they are completely paid.”Warren Co. R-III School District