School superintendents are looking to keep their teachers happy

The teacher pay raise that Gov. Tate Reeves signed in May will keep some of those teachers around

SMITHVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- Teachers help make the world go ’round, their efforts are often overlooked; pushing some to leave the field.

The teacher pay raise that Gov. Tate Reeves signed in May 2022 will keep some of those teachers around and even bring in some fresh faces. Finding substitute teachers has also been an issue for many places.

Dr. Cherie Labat with Columbus Municipal Schools said that she sees teachers making that decision due to the workload during the COVID-19 pandemic. She felt that meeting the needs of the teachers should be a top priority for schools.

“I think we have to be more open to flexibility of schedules flexibility whether it relates to calendars, the time off that they have, and creating an environment that’s conducive to their well being and their social emotional awareness,” said Labat.

Other schools have been fairing better.

“At Smithville we don’t deal with I guess a lot of schools in districts may deal with. We have pretty high teacher retention rate here, but I think that’s due a lot to the atmosphere around here the family atmosphere,” said Smithville school principal Chad O’Brian.

O’Brian is currently the principal at Smithville, but he moves into the superintendent’s office in July. He knows the new job will bring new challenges, but one thing has helped dial down some of the issues.

“I’ve personally heard several teachers remark that they were considering retirement but now with this pay raise they’re considering doing three or four more years to build that retirement so I think you’re going to see double benefits from that,” said O’Brian.

That teacher pay raise has caught the attention of new and current teachers, and that’s not the only way teachers can see extra dollars on their pay checks.

“You couple that and we have a math and science bonus and for career teachers we have the national board certification process that’s paid through ESSA funds and so we have a lot of monetary incentives right now,” said Labat.

Teachers think of new ways to teach old lessons, and some only get their flowers during teachers appreciation week.

Both Labat and O’Brian said they try to think of new ways to show appreciation to their staffs.

“Respecting their family time is a value and creating that opportunity during the day that they have more structure time is something that we’ve worked on. We’ve changed our calendar to give a Wednesday time for them to have some flexibility to deal with some of the things they need to instruct we’ll also open ourselves to other opportunities for our teachers,” said O’Brian.

“People get into teaching because they want to help kids and make a difference and I think that’s the best way to keep people involved is to let them know that they are and for our teachers to know that we appreciate what they do and that’s the number one objective around here for sure,” said Labat.

The teacher pay raise becomes effective July 1, 2022 allowing teachers to gain an extra $5,100 to their salaries.