SPS district, unions finalize limited staff pay increase for FY27

Last edited 1:42 p.m., June 24, 2026 [Editor's note: A reference to the academic year has been corrected.]

Starting teacher pay in Springfield Public Schools will remain $45,917 for a second year.

The SPS Board of Education voted June 23 to approve a budget that includes a step increase on the salary schedule – prescribed pay raises based on gaining education or experience – but no cost-of-living increase for the 2026-27 year.

There is also no change to the base pay for teachers. However, the district will provide a one-time payment of $500 in December 2026.

“We want to do more, but financially this is what we can do,” said Superintendent Grenita Lathan, in an interview.

Lathan said lower-than-expected state funding, increased costs and declining student enrollment have prompted difficult spending decisions to remain “financially stable.”

“In previous years, we’ve been able to do a step and a cost-of-living adjustment,” Lathan said.

This is only the third budget since FY10 that does not include a cost-of-living increase. Last year, the pay bump was 2%, and in the prior three years it ranged from 3% to 4%.

The FY27 budget includes $6.4 million in additional salary and benefits, including retirement and Social Security. The step increase was $4 million of that amount, according to the district.

SPS officials said funds for the one-time payment of $500 will be paid out of reserve funds. The district has 3,500 employees, and more than 1,800 have a teaching certificate.

Lathan said a sliver of employees, those who no longer receive the step increase because they are at the top of their salary schedule, will receive a one-time payment of $1,000 instead of the $500. Part-time employees will receive a payment of $250.

“We wanted them to know we do appreciate you,” she said.

Annual pay increases are determined through collective bargaining with 10 employee groups. Bus drivers and aides are represented by Teamsters Local No. 245 and the other nine groups, including teachers, are represented by the Springfield National Education Association.

“As with all good negotiations, there was genuine collaboration to improve working conditions and creative thinking to secure the best pay we could for all employees under difficult circumstances,” said Shannon Benne, president of Springfield NEA, in a statement. “We were able to secure a step and a one-time payout of $500 for every employee who is covered under the nine contracts SNEA oversees.”

Lathan thanked the union and district leaders who met over months this spring.

“Everyone came to the table understanding that we needed to focus on student learning and well-being, that we needed to focus on retaining high-quality teachers and staff, that we wanted to make sure we were investing resources where they would have the greatest impact,” Lathan said in the June 23 meeting. “We also wanted to make sure we were maintaining efficient and effective district operations.”

Cara Stassel, executive director of business services, said the one-time payment is “not a recurring cost like that cost-of-living would be.”

In mid-June, SPS announced plans to cut nearly 67 positions to save $4.3 million, part of an effort to offset lower-than-expected state funding.

The state adequacy target, a key part of the formula that determines how much state aid goes to each district, was scheduled to hit $7,145. However, officials have said it will likely be $6,900 or lower.

“This year’s bargaining season was difficult, and not because the district and SNEA couldn’t collaborate or because we disagreed on many issues,” Benne said. “It was because Missouri’s schools are not being fully funded by the decisions being made in Jefferson City.”

Benne said public education is facing multiple obstacles from declining interest in the teaching profession to the state allocating funding for families interested in private schools.

“SNEA recognizes that public schools are under attack, and we will continue to fight for Missouri public schools to be fully funded,” she said. “We understand that strong schools depend on strong and caring employees, which requires meaningful investment and support from the community.”

The nine groups represented by Springfield NEA presented a united front in bargaining, but each one also had requests related to their specific employees.

SPS provided a list of other changes that were agreed to during bargaining, including:

● Allow eligible employees to be paid for up to 10 additional days of accrued sick leave upon their retirement or voluntary resignation

● Pay teachers for up to 70 hours of special education paperwork. It had been capped at 50 hours

● Approve stipend for eligible employees who teach split classes, an acknowledgement of the extra planning required

● Compensate school nurses who substitute at their hourly rate

● Increase allowance for school police uniformsTravis Shaw, deputy superintendent of operations, said employees not represented by a union will also receive a step increase and one-time payment.

Asked how much of a pay increase was sought by the unions, Shaw declined to answer. “Everything that we do within collective bargaining is considered to be confidential and closed.”

SPS officials said the district cut millions in spending, including positions, during the past two years as federal aid from the pandemic dried up.

Stephen Hall, chief communications officer for SPS, said the budget challenges are not going away, and the district faces “significant unanswered questions” in the future.

For example, lawmakers have proposed property and income tax reform. Missouri’s School Funding Modernization Task Force is also exploring options for redesigning the state’s K-12 funding model and will present a report by Dec. 1.

Another challenge is enrollment, which has been sluggish or dropping at many districts across the state and is directly related to state funding.

SPS reported 24,639 students this past year, including 1,322 in early childhood education. Roughly 90% of students attend school in person, and the other 10% learn full-time through Launch Virtual Learning and the state-operated Missouri Course Access and Virtual School program.

For the upcoming year, SPS predicts its overall enrollment – in person and online – to be 24,000.