Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD approves districtwide pay raise for 2026-27

Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD is betting that higher pay will help hold onto teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff in a North Texas labor market where schools are competing for the same workers as other districts and private employers. Trustees approved a districtwide compensation plan on June 4 that raises pay for every employee in 2026-27 and lifts the starting teacher salary to $63,200.

The board chose Option 4 from four compensation plans, a signal that trustees wanted a broad across-the-board increase rather than a narrower adjustment aimed at one job category. The district said the package was developed with the Texas Association of School Boards and is intended to improve market competitiveness and pay equity. CFBISD also said the raises are aligned with Texas HB 2, which includes state-funded salary increases for classroom teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses.

A local report said the board vote was 7-0 and that the approved plan includes a 2% raise for teachers, counselors, librarians, nurses, paraprofessionals and auxiliary staff. Administrators and some other employee groups will receive a 1% raise. The district has also built in a revised hiring schedule to guide teacher salary placement, an important detail for families watching whether CFBISD can recruit experienced educators as well as new ones.

For a starting teacher, the new salary marks the district’s baseline offer for 2026-27 and puts CFBISD squarely in the regional competition for talent. For a paraprofessional or auxiliary worker, the 2% increase matters less as a headline number than as a practical signal that the district is trying to keep support roles from lagging too far behind the cost of living. For parents, the stakes are even more direct: stronger pay can mean fewer vacancies, less turnover and more classroom continuity when the school year begins.

Trustees are not finished with compensation. They plan to revisit supplemental stipends for bus drivers and monitors, along with years-of-service supplemental pay, in August. That leaves room for additional changes in the months ahead, but June’s vote locks in the district’s main salary framework now.

The move follows a year in which CFBISD already raised wages for all employees for 2025-26, and teachers received an average 6.2% increase. That decision came after the district closed four schools because of a budget deficit and declining enrollment, underscoring the tension leaders have faced between financial pressure and the need to remain competitive. In that context, the new pay plan is more than a personnel update. It is part of a broader effort to stabilize staffing in classrooms that serve families across Carrollton and Farmers Branch.