‘Right direction’: Beaufort Co. Council approves increase in teacher salaries for 2022-23

Sofia Sanchez
·4 min read

Teacher salaries in the Beaufort County School District will increase by an additional $4,000 after the County Council approved a school budget Monday night that put the county on par with some of the top-paying school districts in the state.

An entry-level salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree is now budgeted at $45,566 — up from the previous $37,928. Coupled with a 3% raise previously approved by the school board plus locality, retention and recruitment bonuses, a starting teacher next year would actually be paid $50,066, according to a school district press release.

A starting teacher with a master’s degree will earn $51,080, plus all of the pay supplements.

“I do think we are struggling with being competitive given the cost of living with where we are here, and I think we as a community want us to have the best teachers we can have,” Stu Rodman, a longtime member of the Beaufort County Council, said at the final reading of the budget Monday night.

The $4,000 salary increase from the county will be added to the base pay of all teachers. The increase equals approximately $2,000 per teacher coupled with “existing local and state dollars” that were already slated to be used for the other $2,000.

In March, the school board approved a retroactive 3% cost-of-living increase after teachers spoke out about high living costs in Beaufort County.

A school district employee outlined needs and suggestions at a May 11 meeting at Bluffton High School regarding salary raises for teachers.
A school district employee outlined needs and suggestions at a May 11 meeting at Bluffton High School regarding salary raises for teachers.

On May 4, the school board voted to give new and current full-time employees a $2,000 recruitment and retention bonus to be paid in December if they remained employed by the district by Nov. 15.

Monthly rental rates for one-bedroom apartments in Beaufort County range from $975 to $1,100 on the low-end to $1,970 and $2,934 on the high-end, according to Apartments.com. One teacher said at a recent school board meeting he and his wife had been living in Beaufort County for about a year and hope to buy a home but can’t afford one, according to previous reporting in the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

“When you can’t afford to live in a place, how am I able to invest in a community?” the teacher said.

The Beaufort County School District, like many others in the U.S., has been “competing with districts across the country to recruit and retain educators,” Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said.

“This (retention) proves especially difficult given the high cost of living in Beaufort County, but these compensation increases are moving the district in the right direction,” he said.

Money for the 3% increases came from the district’s 2022 General Fund operating budget and cost the district an estimated $5.5 million, according to previous Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reporting. Teachers got that increase on June 10.

Starting in mid-July, the school district’s year-round staff can expect to see the pay increases reflected in their paychecks. For most teachers, this will show up in August at the start of the school year.

Other employees in the district are set to receive raises as well. With the cost of living raises, “classified, administrative and professional employees” are set to receive a 6% increase for 2023 along with a step increase for returning staff. In addition to “step” increases for returning employees, bus drivers will receive an 8% increase that comes from a 5% salary bump and the 3% cost of living increase.

With the approval of the county council, Beaufort County teachers will receive up to $4,000 increase to their base pay starting for the 2022-23 school year. This chart outlines the varying pay teachers will receive based on years of experience and education level at the school district both before and after the new budget’s approval.
With the approval of the county council, Beaufort County teachers will receive up to $4,000 increase to their base pay starting for the 2022-23 school year. This chart outlines the varying pay teachers will receive based on years of experience and education level at the school district both before and after the new budget’s approval.

There currently are approximately 94 vacant full-time teacher positions from elementary all the way up to the high school level in the Beaufort County School District.

At a June 13 County Council meeting, teachers and administration from the school district spoke out, urging the council to consider the district’s proposal, which allowed for the salary bump for district employees. Because the county contributes funding toward the school district’s budget, the County Council must approve the budget.

A Beaufort High School math teacher said at the meeting that her school only had a full math department one time in the six years she has been with the district.

“Obviously, this means all classes are larger, it also means classes are canceled and students are put in random, other classes that don’t meet their needs,” she said. “A lot of times, these classes are your honors and AP classes. This past year, we had many classes that were taught by the computer; imagine learning algebra, any of the algebras, by computer without a teacher.”