A report from the South Dakota Department of Education shows thirty eight school districts fell short of teacher pay targets.
The half-cent sales tax increase bill funding those raises mandated that schools hit an average pay of forty-eight thousand five hundred dollars for their teachers.
Wade Pogany Executive Director of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota, says small districts don’t have much lee way.
Pogany says he expects the review board to grant waivers to most districts.
Pogany says those districts could face some financial penalties without a waiver.
Most school districts spend more than eighty percent of their budgets on employee pay and benefits.
(WNAX)