All full-time staff in Houston County School District receive pay raise

The Deputy Superintendent for the district says the decision was made in an effort to match the rising cost of living and keep wages in the school district competitive.

PERRY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Spirits are high in the Houston County School District after all full-time employees received a raise to start the new school year.

The district announced a more than four percent raise for all full-time employees.

“The theme for us is continuously growing, and we feel that way, we feel that not just continuously growing in the classrooms, but as a district we’re continuously growing, and now it’s showing in our paychecks as well,” Perry High School principal Del Martin said.

He says everyone on his staff has been excited and thankful for the support they’ve received.

“My wife is an educator as well, so it’s been a big impact in our household for both of us to have received a raise,” Martin said.

The raise is in effect for teachers, administrators, custodians, nutrition workers and bus drivers.

According to Deputy Superintendent for the Houston County School District Dr. Richard Rogers, the decision to increase pay was part of an effort to match the rising cost of living and to keep wages in the school district competitive.

“We have high expectations in Houston County, but we also want to reward our employees for working hard, and for just meeting the individual needs of our students,” Dr. Rogers said.

Dr. Rogers explained that one of the school district’s legislative priorities is to keep pay high for all teaching staff, and it shows. This year’s raise marks an overall pay increase in the Houston County School District of more than 20% since 2017. He says the raise can help grow the local economy by attracting new employees and providing current employees with more spending power.

He says most importantly, the raise doesn’t just benefit employees but also students.

“We need to take as many worries as we can away from our employees, and part of that is a good living wage,” Dr. Rogers said. “And they come in, things are going well in their life, they can give their all to the students.”

Starting this month, Houston County School District employees will also receive semi-monthly paychecks instead of monthly pay.