A Look at Personnel Finances in PNGISD

In Port Neches Groves Independent School District the total personnel salaries add up to $24,674,141, not including benefits.  The total district budget is $36,750,087 so personnel salaries account for 67.14%.  It has always been my belief that personnel expenses make up about 80% of a districts budget.  When you factor in benefits, I’m sure that is about where PNGISD is.  This really came to light a couple of years ago when we had to absorb quite a few positions through attrition.  What the employees of the district found out was that the only way to significantly reduce the budget was to reduce the number of positions.  Along those same lines, there would be major ramifications of a 5% pay increase.  For PNGISD this would be over $1 million.  At a time when the state and federal government are making massive cuts across the board, including education, a move such as this would need to be highly scrutinized before it is approved.  One thing with a pay increase is once you give it, you cannot take it back.  It increases your pay scale forever.  You have to decide whether or not it is sustainable in your district.  The only way to really get new money is to gain new students.  Otherwise, a district may have to cut back positions in order to give a raise.  A positive benefit is a pay raise can increase employee morale though many times this is short lived.