Superintendent Hiser: Teacher raises ‘long overdue,’ reflect state funding changes

Following the approval of salary increases for Big Horn County School District No. 2 employees, Superintendent William Hiser said he is pleased the district was able to provide teachers with a significant raise while still offering increases to all employee groups.

“I think it is tremendous that our teachers are receiving a substantial and long-overdue salary increase,” Hiser said. “Competitive pay is important for attracting and retaining high-quality educators, especially in Wyoming, where recruiting and keeping teachers can be challenging.”

Hiser said the 15 percent teacher raise was made possible through changes enacted by the Wyoming Legislature during the recent school finance recalibration process.

“The Legislature reduced the overall number of teachers in the state by increasing class sizes, but also increased funding specifically designated for teacher salaries and established a required average teacher salary for every school district in the state,” Hiser said.

Those funds, known as the “instructional silo,” are earmarked for teacher salaries and “cannot be used for other purposes,” he said.

“For Big Horn County School District No. 2, the state-required average teacher salary is $73,739,” Hiser said. “I am pleased that we were able to exceed that target.”

He added that the increase is about more than numbers.

“Most importantly, this increase recognizes the value of our teachers and the critical role they play in the success of our students and district,” he said.

While teachers received a 15 percent raise, administrators received a 3 percent increase, and all other district employees will receive a 6 percent raise. Hiser said the disparity reflects the way the state allocated school funding.

“The difference comes down to how the Wyoming Legislature allocated funding through the new school finance recalibration model,” he said. “While the Legislature increased and specifically earmarked funding for teacher salaries, funding on the operations side of the model was reduced.”

According to Hiser, the operations side of the model supports “many of our other valued employees, including paraprofessionals, nurses, custodians, secretaries, food service, directors and administrators.” It also funds areas such as “activities, utilities and maintenance.”

Even with those reductions, Hiser said the district wanted to ensure every employee benefited.

“Even with those funding reductions, the district prioritized providing salary increases to all employees because every employee plays an important role in supporting students and schools,” he said.

The superintendent emphasized that the district values all staff members and hopes future legislative sessions will address operational funding concerns.

“We greatly value the contributions of all district employees and remain committed to advocating for a funding model that adequately supports every position,” Hiser said. “We hope that future legislative sessions will address the operations side of the model so that compensation can better reflect the important work performed by all school employees.”