COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland One approved the third reading of the district's General Fund Budget for the 2024-1015 fiscal year.
The $409.2M budget will include raises for Richland Ones' starting teacher salary from $43,640 to $50,100 a year.
“We are pleased to offer these well-deserved increases to our teachers and other staff as part of our ongoing employee recruitment and retention initiatives,” said Richland One Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon. “Thank you to our Board members for their support and approval.
The district is also increasing the teaching staff pay scale, depending on education and years of experience, by an average of 9%.
Also at the meeting an average pay increase of over 5.5 percent for school bus drivers – the 2.75 percent increase mandated by the state plus the 2.8 increase from the district for eligible non-teachers, was approved.
The district will look at other supplements as well as summer programming that was previously funded by ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) in closing out the 2023-2024 school year,