Superintendent discusses approved pay increase for Bowling Green city school employees

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Bowling Green Independent School District has announced an increase in pay for all staff members.

The 5% pay raise includes everyone, from bus drivers to teachers. First-year teachers with a bachelor’s degree will begin at $45,000, and the minimum hourly wage in BGISD will be $15.75 an hour, according to the district.

The Board of Education voted on the rise in salary on Monday, a change that can benefit not only staff but also future students.

BGISD superintendent Gary Fields says, “We want great teachers, but we also want great bus drivers and great cafeteria workers and great school secretaries. And so, we’re going to be able to attract the best and the brightest and continue to meet the expectation of this community because they’re very high.”

This is the first time in the district that a starting teacher will begin at a salary of $45,000, Fields says.

The salary increase is a change Fields says he hopes to continue seeing in the future.