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The Stanly County Board of Education on Tuesday night approved changing teacher supplements from a tier-based system to one based on percentage of pay, specifically five percent of the teachers’ annual salary.

Board member Dustin Lisk, who is part of the finance committee, made the recommendation before the board. It would take effect next school year.

With the new system related to teachers’ annual salary, those who have been with the school system for a long time would receive higher compensation. Under the current tiered system, teachers receive an increase of a fixed amount every 10 years.

“So any time your pay would increase, your supplement would increase accordingly, which I think is excellent,” said board member Anthony Graves, who is also on the finance committee. He added that many teachers have made complaints over the years about the tiered system.

If a teacher happens to already make more than five percent of their salary based on the current tier-based scale, once the new system begins they would be held “harmless,” meaning they would not lose their current supplement amount.

“No one is going to lose any money with this change,” Graves said.

Instead of receiving the supplements in June and December, the board approved the supplements going out in June and November, so teachers would receive the money before the holidays.

The board also approved of a preliminary budget request of $14.7 million and a projected capital outlay request of $3.4 million, which members will present before county commissioners in the near future. Part of the budget will be to increase pay for classified staff to $15 per hour next school year, as required by the state.

Lisk said the school system’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year should be finalized by May 5.