What changes are being made to the employee salary schedule?

These changes fall into three main categories:  

1. Historic increases in employee compensation;
2. Changes to the structure of the salary schedule;
3. Adjustments to certain employee job titles, mostly in the Central Office.  

Why are these changes happening?

This initiative is driven by our priority of “Great Educators in Every School.” In order to continue recruiting and retaining the best employees, we recognize that competitive compensation is essential.  

In addition, changes to certain job titles are being made to provide clarity about the responsibilities of those employees and to promote consistent expectations across departments.  

How has the salary schedule changed?

The most important change is a $39 million investment in employee salaries (and an additional $2 million in employee benefits), which will result in an increase for every employee in the 2024-25 school year. The district is also making several structural changes that will affect how compensation is calculated.

• Under the current system, employees who begin working as a teacher and then move to another role are compensated based on the teacher scale plus an addon. This will no longer be the case.
  • Under the new system, employment categories will have a category specific pay scale. When an employee moves into a new role, they will transition to the appropriate scale.
• Under the current system, employees who earn advanced degrees receive a pay increase based on a percentage of their current salary.
  • Under the new system, advanced degrees above a Masters will confer a flat-rate benefit that applies equally to all categories.

How much will employee compensation be increased?

Beginning May 23, employees will receive a Notice of Annual Salary document electronically that will outline their job title and salary for the 2024-25 school year.  Because of the volume of employees transitioning to the new schedules, not all employees will receive the notice at the same time.  Once employees receive this notice, they will be given an opportunity to seek a clarification of their job title or salary.  

With the transition to the new scales, the goal is to move all employees to Market Value.  This means that all employees will not receive the same percentage increase, as some positions are currently compensated closer to Market Value.  However, the average increase in the 2024-25 school year is projected to be:

• Approximately 8 percent for custodians, nutrition workers, security officers;
• Approximately 12 percent for school based secretarial positions and 5 percent for District office secretarial positions;
• Approximately 10 percent for certified teachers;
• Approximately 2 percent for instructional coaches;
• Approximately 3 percent for principals, assistant principals, and assistant administrators; and
• Approximately 2 percent for Central Office administrators

Will these raises continue in future years?

Employee raises are an important factor for providing Great Educators In Every School, and the district will continue to prioritize employee compensation.   

However, the proposed increases for 2024-25 are based on specific findings from the compensation study regarding the district’s competitiveness in the current market. There is no guarantee that this specific increase will be replicated in the future.  

Employees that have not reached the top of the scales will continue to receive step raises.  This is a great impact particularly for classified employees on the previous scales.  These scales topped out at step 14.  All new proposed scales advance to step 20. 

Will compensation be reduced for any current employees?

No current employees will see their compensation reduced as a result of the transition to the new schedules.

How can I learn more about these changes?

At the Board of Education work session on April 2 and regular session on April 4, board members received a briefing about proposed changes to the salary schedule and subsequently voted to approve them. This included a big-picture summary that addressed proposed changes in compensation and titles, but it did not include detailed information about individual employees. You can watch these meetings at knoxschools.org/kcstv.  

Beginning May 23, employees will receive a Notice of Annual Salary document electronically that will outline their job title and salary for the 2024-25 school year. Because of the volume of employees transitioning to the new schedules, not all employees will receive the notice at the same time. Once employees receive this notice, they will be given an opportunity to seek clarification, if needed, of their job title or salary. 

If I was on the teacher scale previously but I am moved to the general scale through this process, will my status as a certified employee change?

No, there will be no change to your employment status or benefits as a result of the transition to the new salary schedules.     

What were the significant changes to the job classifications if any?

Key Changes and Naming Conventions:

• Assistant Superintendent: Oversight and leadership of divisions.
• Executive Director and Chiefs: Oversight and leadership of departments.
• Director: Oversight and leadership of a department.
• Supervisor: Oversight and leadership of programs and people (generally more than seven).
  • This would include but not limited to providing daily direction to employees (ie. approving the employees' absences, daily work assignments, etc.) and evaluating the employees.
• Coordinator: Oversight and leadership of programs.
• Instructional Specialist: Oversight and leadership of a specialized component of a program.

Notable Differences:

• The change from lead positions (excluding lead teacher positions) to Senior positions, which will be placed a grade or two above their current pay grade.
• Job classes meeting the Professional and Learned Professional exemption standards as described in the Department of Labor Wage Hour guidance will be addressed accordingly. For instance:
  • Accountants meeting these standards will remain as accountants and be placed on the appropriate Market Value assessed grade.   

All other positions not meeting these standards will be classified as Data Specialists and assigned the appropriate pay grade.

This is not an exhaustive list of the changes, but an example of a few of the changes.  Please, send any additional questions to salary@knoxschools.org -  We encourage you to hold individual questions until you receive your Notice of Annual Salary.