Thousands of St. Tammany Parish school workers are in line for a raise, after the St. Tammany Parish School Board signed off this month on a new pay package and expanded leave benefits for the 2026–27 school year. The board approved a negotiated memorandum of understanding that tweaks the district salary schedule for both certificated and support staff, with district leaders pitching the move as a way to stay competitive and hang on to employees ahead of the coming school year.
What the raises include
According to St. Tammany Parish Public Schools, the memorandum provides a one pay-level equivalent valued at $500 for certificated employees and $350 for support employees for 2026–27, with those amounts adjusted based on an individual employee’s work calendar and hours. The district says the change will be built into the salary schedule for the upcoming school year, rather than paid out as a one-time bonus.
The agreement does more than bump pay. It expands bereavement leave to two days, with a third day available when travel of 250 miles or more is required, and increases allowable personal leave from three days to four. District officials describe the package as part of a broader effort to shore up working conditions while they try to keep experienced staff from looking elsewhere.
Board vote and local scale
New Orleans CityBusiness reported that the board signed off on the package at a recent meeting, covering roughly 6,000 employees in a system that serves nearly 37,000 students across 55 schools. The outlet recorded the vote as passing with no “no” votes, listing a 9–0 tally with one abstention and several members absent.
CityBusiness noted that the memorandum followed summer negotiations between district leaders and employee councils, setting the stage for the updated pay and leave policies to roll out with the new school year.
State funding backdrop
The local deal arrives as Gov. Jeff Landry has pushed a separate statewide plan to redirect roughly $168 million in education funds into one-time stipends of $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for support staff, a shift his office has framed as a way to boost educator pay. The Office of the Governor has outlined the proposal, and reporting shows a Baton Rouge judge recently dissolved a temporary restraining order that had aimed to block parts of the funding move.
The tug-of-war over how those state dollars are reallocated has left districts and lawmakers working through budget tradeoffs and legal questions as the school year nears. Local leaders say the St. Tammany negotiations and the resulting memorandum moved forward independently of that broader debate at the Capitol.
Implementation and next steps
District officials describe the raises as a pay-level change that will be folded into the existing salary schedule, with human resources and payroll staff coordinating with school leaders and bargaining units on how and when the adjustments hit employee checks. The Tammany Federation of Teachers and School Employees posts memorandum of understanding materials and was a party to the agreement, according to union information.
District finance documents show St. Tammany Parish Public Schools manages a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and administrators say they will balance the new pay and leave provisions against other priorities as they lock in implementation details before students return to class.
