ZACHARY — The Zachary School Board said voters will take up a teacher and staff salary increase this fall. 

At the board's Tuesday meeting, they discussed the plan to raise Zachary's teacher salaries to a starting pay of $60,000. The plan says this is up $10,000.

According to the previous salary schedule, the base pay for a teacher was $52,000. 

The salary increase would affect both veteran and newcomer teachers. 

The plan also says that support staff salaries will be increased by $5,000. 

"This benchmark represents the first step in a long-term commitment to keeping the ZCSD’s compensation among the most competitive in the state and region," the new plan says. 

The plan would also extend nine-month teacher contracts from 182 to 185 days, allowing paid days for planning, professional development and community engagement. Stipends would also be provided to award work outside of contract hours and extracurricular activities. 

Signing bonuses are also outlined for jobs in high-demand areas.

The plan also aims to fund new technologies for the district's schools. According to the plan, this investment "must directly support teaching, learning, operational efficiency, or student safety in ways that cannot be sustained without additional funding."

"Projects should be districtwide in scope or significantly improve instructional access and equity," the plan adds.

The third area the plan hopes to fund is facility upgrades. The resources provided by the plan will not be used to "replace existing maintenance funding, but rather to serve as a supplemental resource for major facility needs that exceed the capacity of the annual budget or represent an emergency need in the future."

These upgrades include classrooms, science labs, libraries and other student facilities. 

The district would also fund projects like lighting, flooring, HVAC and furniture upgrades, as well as invest in energy-efficient improvements like LED lighting, high-efficiency HVAC systems and water conservation measures.

The Strategic Funding and Tax Initiative Priorities Plan, if approved, would give the school district permission to use money generated by an existing property tax. District leaders will unlock money from a fund created to fund long-completed school construction projects. The entire plan can be found here.

The proposal will appear on the Nov. 15 ballot.