Starting next school year, Calcasieu Parish School Board teachers and support staff will see a little extra money on their monthly paychecks.

The board approved a permanent salary increase of $2,000 for teachers and $1,400 for support staff at the March meeting on Tuesday.

The salary increase will be applied at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year. The salary increases will be funded by dedicated sales tax funds, or the “tax-supplement pot,” as Superintendent Jason VanMetre called it.

Each October, CPSB teachers and support staff receive a salary supplement from the sales tax fund. This permanent pay increase “chips” into that fund each year, decreasing the total of the supplement.

“For the last several years, salary supplements in October have been getting bigger,” he explained. “What this would do is let folks be able to budget for that every month.”

CPSB staff recommended $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for support staff, or a four percent raise for both. He said this increase would have amounted to about $10 million, a total that was considered “safe.” Board member Patrick Pichon, District 5, moved to bump the support staff increase up to $1,400, stating that support staff pay is “very lacking.”

Breaux, while in support of pay increase, said the board should use caution when approving permanent pay increases that are funded by a fluctuating income source.

“I wanna give everybody as much as we can, but what we have to be careful with is this is an income stream coming off of tax dollars. That number can vary wildly,” he said. “If the tax dollars come down, then you end up with all kids of sorts of problems.”

Board member Tony O’Banion, District 10, said the additional $10 million is ultimately not a large sum for the board.

“I know everything we do, it ends up being a lot of money, but I just think support staff personnel is not a matter of need.”

VanMetre said the cost increase of the amended plan will be “a little less that $1 million,” and support staff will now receive an about six percent increase.

He assured the board of CPSB’s desire to expand the ladder support staff climb as their career progresses to give them more opportunities for advancement until retirement. In December, the board approved a teacher salary schedule development project that will be completed with LEAN Frog Consulting Services — a company that provides detailed efficiency reviews, organizational reviews and strategic planning to schools districts throughout several southern states.

VanMetre said one of the first things that will be reassessed is the 22-step support staff salary schedule.

Boardmembers Glenda Gay, District 3; Dean Roberts, District 6; and Eric Tarver, District 8, were not present.