Because of state law, the Voter Approved Tax Ratification Election is required before school districts can raise the tax rate if property values reach a certain growth.
Proposition A: Raising concerns
Voters decide whether to give teachers, staff pay increase
A beginning teacher with a bachelor’s degree makes $48,000 in Comal ISD.
That same teacher could drive down the road to Schertz-Clemens-Universal City school district to earn $50,000.
And just a little farther down the road, a salary of $56,675 awaits a new teacher at Northside ISD.
The last time Comal teachers received a salary increase was two years ago – before the pandemic and the challenge of teaching in-person and virtual learners at the same time. The district paid one-time bonuses that did not contribute to retirement savings.
Voters will decide “yes” or “no” on Proposition A to raise funding for staff’ salaries on Nov. 2. Early voting continues through Friday.
Proposition A is the Voter Approved Tax Ratification Election to vote on raising tax rates to boost teacher and staff pay. Because of changes in state law, school trustees must cut the tax rate based on property value growth, but Comal ISD’s growth puts it at a disadvantage for raising salaries and increasing staff.
With enrollment expected to increase by 7,500 in the next five years, Comal ISD is one of the fastest growing districts in the nation. By the 2029-2030 school year, the district is projected to enroll 40,000 students.
To address this growth, the district already has added two high school campuses along with middle and elementary school campuses, along with more teachers and staff,
Opponents to Prop A do not want the tax increase. Some say the district already should have paid for what it needs, including teacher pay raises, and that inflation makes this a bad time to raise taxes.
If VATRE passes, tax rates will increase two cents to $0.94. For the average homeowner, the school tax bill would increase $14 a month, or $168 annually.
When ranked against other districts in the area such New Braunfels and Northside, Comal ISD pays its first-year teachers and those with up to 15 years of experience teachers the least.
In addition, the district’s starting wages for custodians and bus drivers is among the lowest.
This past school year, new Comal bus drivers made $13.50 per hour compared to $17.01 paid to their counterparts in Hays Consolidated. New custodians started at $10 per hour; they could have made $15 per hour in San Antonio ISD.
And the only school district that pays paraprofessionals less is Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City at $10.63 an hour. Comal paid $10.87, but SAISD paid $15.
According to the Comal ISD website, teachers, custodians, paraprofessionals, and administrators “kept pace with student growth and classroom size, at the expense of teacher and staff compensation.”
VATRE’s approval would allow teachers to receive an annual salary increase of 3 percent the next three years and staff members, like bus drivers and janitors, to get a $1.50 hourly pay increase in 2021 and an annual 3 percent pay increase the next four years.