The Hall County School Board voted unanimously Monday night to move forward with a salary study of all paid positions in the county’s school system.
The last salary study conducted for the Hall County school system was in 1997. Board members are seeking baseline statistics for the salaries of administrators, counselors, clerks, bus drivers and paraprofessionals, along with all other educational positions. The purpose of the study is to ensure that Hall County remains in a competitive and desirable position for incoming educational staff.
Assistant Superintendent Brad Brown said being in line with other nearby school systems is vital in bringing in and keeping new talent.
“What we need is a kind of basis point, ground zero, if you will, to build on to make sure that we are not at a competitive disadvantage with our neighbors,” Brown said. “We want to make sure that we are competitive with our neighbors. And we know we lose some to higher-paying districts. So this gives us a basis point to compare to make sure that we're more in line with where we need to be.”
Brown spoke to the board, recommending the company MMG Solutions as the service that will conduct the study. MMG Solutions is based in Gwinett County, which played a major role in helping Brown choose them for his recommendation.
“They come with an incredibly strong references, resources—and plus, they're local people,” Brown said. “They know the area, the geographic and demographics and everything. So we're excited that we'll be working with that.”
Brown discussed another company that had the potential to conduct the study, but they were based out of Minnesota. While the price difference was negligible, Brown felt going with someone who knows Georgia and knows the people was the best option.
Another important aspect playing into the study is the board’s desire to simplify the salary structure. Brown says under the current restraints, it can be difficult for new staff to understand their pay scales.
“If you look at our salary structure and our skills, they can be very hard to read for people,” Brown said. “So we want to create something that is easy to understand and easy to build on. What we have now is not easy to build on. It's a bunch of silo salary scales for people. And so we're trying to get it back to that ground zero, and then work our way up.”
There is no current estimate on how specific salaries might change as a result of the study, but it is the reported desire of the board to stay competitive with other counties in Georgia.
The Hall County School Board will meet again on January 10 at 5:00 p.m. in the school district conference room.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/12/1154077/hall-county-school-board-votes-to-conduct-salary-study