Sherman ISD employees will receive a pay raise and improved benefits under the 2023-24 budget approved by the SISD Board of Trustees in June. 

The budget includes new personnel to address growth, reduce class size, and provide additional support to students. This includes 32 teaching positions, six classroom assistant positions, three bus assistants, one secretary, one security analyst, one police officer, three assistant principals, two behavior specialists, one diagnostician, one occupational therapist, one school counselor, one speech-language pathologist and one student support counselor. 

In addition, the budget provides:

• $1,750 raise for returning teachers, with market adjustments for any teacher below the 2023-24 hiring schedule

• 3% of the midpoint raise for all other pay grades

• $55,450 starting teacher salary, the highest in Grayson County

• Market adjustments based on recommendations from the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). The position of licensed vocational nurse (LVN) will receive a large market adjustment, with the starting hourly wage for LVNs moving from $22.91 to $32.60 per hour. Sherman ISD’s returning LVNs will see an annual raise between $5,000 and $9,000 due to this market adjustment.

• Stipend adjustments including:

  • Increasing self-contained special education teacher stipends (lifeskills, autism and behavior) from $3,000 to $5,000

  • Increasing self-contained special education classroom assistant stipends from $500 to $1,000

  • Adding a $5,000 stipend for hard-to-fill areas including licensed specialist in school psychology (LSSP), speech-language pathologist (SLP) and certified academic language therapists (CALT) 

  • Adding stipends for Junior Classical League, Skills USA, PC Tech (based off of certifications), and assistant director stipends for theater and choir

  • Additional updates to stipends will occur next school year, as the district will undergo a complete TASB stipend review during the 2023-24 school year.

• Increase in health care contributions for employees from $357 to $400 per month

• The district will no longer provide CareFlite insurance for employees. Instead, all employees will receive a $30,000 life insurance policy at no cost to the employee. Historically, the district has provided a $10,000 life insurance policy for hourly employees, a $20,000 policy for teachers, and a $30,000 life insurance policy for administrators. All employees will now receive a $30,000 policy.  

In addition to compensation and benefit enhancements, the district will also continue to provide longevity incentives and retirement matching through a TERRP plan for all benefit-eligible employees. Benefit-eligible employees will also receive a $1,000 retention/sign-on bonus in August, along with a $1,000 holiday bonus later this fall. 

“We are so thankful to have a School Board that values employees and prioritizes our ability to hire, train, and retain high-quality personnel to work with our students every day,” said Superintendent Dr. Tyson Bennett. “This budget provides competitive compensation for staff and adds new employees to keep up with growth and increase support for our students.”

These increases were possible despite the fact that the Texas Legislature did not provide additional funding to school districts for teacher raises this spring, even with a historic budget surplus of $33 billion. However, it is still possible that a special session later this year may provide increased funding for SISD. If additional funding becomes available, Sherman ISD will look to update the approved 2023-24 compensation plan and budget.  

Click here to learn more about the budget or watch the presentation from the June meeting.