CLARK COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Teachers and staff in Clark County Public Schools will receive a 3% pay raise after a vote by the school board.
”So we went with a conservative 3% raise,” district superintendent Molly McComas told LEX18. “And we're going to continuously monitor that each year so that we can remain competitive and offer our work family the respect in pay that they deserve.”
Raising the amount they pay employees helps to retain them, especially as other area districts increase their employee wages, she said.
Brian Foudray, the leader of the educator’s union for the schools, said this is a step forward. Teachers, he explained, have far less spending power than they did twenty years ago when you look at the rise in inflation and the rise in wages.
“I know the staff was excited to have some form of compensation change,” Foudray said, explaining that even a 3 or 5 percent increase will be significant for teachers and staff, many of whom are trying to feed and provide for their own families, which has grown more difficult due to inflation.
Clark County doesn't have the only school system offering wages. McComas said some systems are providing no raises, while a few are increasing as much as 7 or 8 percent. At 3%, they are in the middle of the pack of the majority of school systems, she said.
The chair of the county’s board of education, Megan Hendricks, said they appreciate the hard work and dedication of school employees.
“We are hopeful that going forward we will be able to offer additional pay increases to improve teacher retention and adequately compensate every employee,” she said.