By Leah Schwarting

NATCHEZ — Custodial, child nutrition, security, school-based clerical staff and teacher’s assistants could be in line for a 4 percent pay increase next school year.

During a special meeting Thursday, Natchez-Adams School District Deputy Superintendent Tanisha Smith presented what could be a pay increase scenario to school board members.

If the 4 percent increase is indeed recommended by Hill and approved by the school board in its next budget, it will increase salaries by a total of $94,595.

Last year, teachers received a raise a $1,500 per year. Teachers will get another $1,000 raise in the 2015-2016 school year.

Salaries and benefits take up about 80 percent of the school’s budget.

No final budget decisions will be made until after the 4 p.m. June 22 public hearing on the budget.

In other cost saving measures, the board also voted to extend a contract with ServiceMaster for one year.

The cleaning service is in charge of maintenance at Robert Lewis Magnet School and Frazier Elementary.

Hill said no district employee lost a job because of the ServiceMaster contracts.

“No one lost their job during this transition. It was done through attrition. They either retired or left the district,” he said.

The services were found to be more cost effective than the district hiring its own custodial staff in those schools.

At Frazier, ServiceMaster’s monthly contract fee is $5,285 per month. That includes two ServiceMaster employees during the school day and four at night.

When the school district employed its own custodial staff at Frazier, monthly cost was $7,629.

At Robert Lewis Magnet School, ServiceMaster’s contract monthly fee is $6,103 per month. That also includes two employees during the day and four during the evening.

When the school district employed its own custodial staff there, the monthly cost of salaries was $12,715.

ServiceMaster provides its own cleaning products, which are another saving to the school district, said Margaret Parson, director of business and finance for the school district.

The measure to renew the contracts for one year at the same cost as the current contract also passed unanimously for both schools.