KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — According to Knox County Schools, a new salary schedule could cost an estimated $39 million to implement in its first year.
A consultant for Evergreen Solutions, Kristen Fitzpatrick, presented a "compensation and classification study" to the school board members on March 4. The board reportedly hired Evergreen the previous year to compare its pay and work structure to the surrounding comparable districts.
Fitzpatrick said that Knox County district was 7% and 9% below the salary ranges in a set of 20 other surrounding districts, including locations such as Maryville, Oak Ridge and Sevier County.
According to Evergreen, more than 3,000 district employees who were surveyed raised complaints about compensation. These employees ranked their satisfaction with pay at 3.9 out of ten, while Knox County district benefits satisfaction ranked higher, only at five out of ten.
Fitzpatrick said focus groups repeatedly brought up compensation not keeping up with the cost of living within the county.
Fitzpatrick proposed simplifying the district's pay structure, as well as boosting it. The plan reportedly increases teachers with bachelor's degrees to start at a new annual salary of $47,011 with raises to $74,524 over a 20-step process during their careers, with those who have master's degrees only starting at $3,500 more per year.
"With regular raises, that would put the district on track to hit starting salaries of $50,000 for teachers by 2027, when a new state law requiring that minimum salary kicks in," Fitzpatrick said.
Making the needed adjustments to the annual salary would reportedly cost the system $39 million in next year's budget.
Previously, Jennifer Hemmelgarn, Knox County's assistant superintendent of business and talent, said the district would bring the full new salary schedule to the board for approval next month. It would then be included in the proposed budget the board will consider for 2024-2025.