The Highland Park ISD board of trustees approved a minimum 7% pay increase for all teachers and staff at its June 17 meeting.
“I don’t know when Highland Park has had that type of raise,” assistant superintendent for business services Scott Drillette said. “But it’s exciting to be a part of that.”
Teachers in their first through fourth years with HPISD are slated to receive a $4,400 pay boost, or 7% increase in salary.
The raises go up for teachers with more experience. Those with five years of teaching will get a 7.8% boost, or $5,000 increase. Six-year teachers will receive an additional 8%, and 30-year teachers will see pay raises of 10%.
Other staff will receive a 7% boost, which will be calculated from the midpoint of their pay scale.
First-year teachers without master’s degrees will be paid $63,000, a figure that’s more than 25% higher than the $50,300 they received in the 2020-21 school year, when HPISD’s average teacher salary was ranked 24th out of 25 comparison districts. New teachers with master’s degrees will earn $66,000.
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“It’s important to the school board to be in the top quartile for all teachers, for all years of service,” Drillette said. “And I think we’re going to be close to that … It’ll be interesting to see what other districts do.”
HPISD’s board of trustees approved a 4% pay raise for teachers in April prior to the passage of Texas House Bill 2. The bill, which became state law on June 4, provided HPISD with about $3.7 million in additional funds.
Also during the meeting, the board of trustees:
- Recognized the Highland Park High School Academic Team, which finished runner-up in the 5A UIL Academic State Meet.
- Approved the 2025-26 budget, which included total expenditures of $172,087,708. More than half of the district’s projected revenue will be returned to the state as recapture dollars. The board is slated to approve its 2025-26 tax rate in August.
- Heard updates on projects funded by the 2024 bond, as well as on framework focus areas and instructional practices.
- Received an update on STAAR preliminary results. The update focused on whether the district met board goals to increase the percentage of students scoring at the test’s masters, or highest, level. The district met those goals on six of the eight exams considered.
- Considered how to comply with House Bill 1481, which is known as the “cellphone ban.” If signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, the bill would require the Texas school boards to adopt, implement, and ensure compliance with a policy barring students from using personal communication devices while at school.
