Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools seek to establish ‘competitive pay,’ present plan to Board

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools presented a plan to increase minimum employee pay to $20 an hour to the school board during a Tuesday afternoon meeting.

Hurd Isenhour Lopes Consultants conducted a compensation review for CMS. The study reviewed the pay of positions within the first to ninth pay grades across Charlotte. The study did not include teachers, but included uncertified CMS positions such as bus driver, custodian and maintenance workers.

Nearly 5,000 uncertified CMS employees are in pay grades one to five. The proposed plan aims to raise the employees’ salaries to fall within grades six to ten.

Over 300 uncertified CMS employees with a salary above a grade six would receive a pay increase to place them above pay grade ten.

CMS wants an increase in minimum pay to $20 an hour with a goal of establishing competitive pay, according to a press release. A living wage for a single adult in Charlotte is $24.36, as of February 2024, according to MIT’s living wage calculator.

The board is expected to vote on the plan on Jan. 28.

Not all employees would receive a pay increase in phase one if the plan is approved. The plan will implement three phases, taking places over a course of three years.

Phase one would raise minimum employee pay to $20 an hour starting Feb. 28, with retroactive pay to July 2024.

Now, 3,866 CMS employees earn less than $20 per hour. More than 5,000 CMS employees would receive a pay raise in phase one, with an estimated cost of $2.5 million.

Phase two and three would take place between 2025 and 2027, recognizing and rewarding employees’ years of service.

CMS school board approved a budget of $2.1 billion in April 2024 that included allocations of $9.8 million for staff pay increases to a minimum of $20 an hour.

“While not everyone may be fully satisfied, Phase one demonstrates the Board and leadership’s commitment to improving pay for classified staff,” according to a CMS press release.