Dear Meeting Street Schools team,
As we continue to pursue excellence, we strive to ensure our decisions advance our mission, are grounded in our values and enable us to make an impact for years to come. I’m writing to share important context for some upcoming compensation shifts.
Overall, we’ve prioritized investing in you – our team. We’ve increased salary spending by 32 percent in three years, announced one of the highest starting teacher salaries in South Carolina and strengthened our maternity leave policy. We have done all of this while continuing to reward performance through merit-based increases and the Excellence in Teaching Awards. Our network’s commitment to recognize and reward excellence is unmatched nationally in education.
We are striving for outcomes that are unique in South Carolina, so we must operate differently. And it’s clear that some of our compensation practices needed to be examined and improved. That’s why we’re moving away from incentivizing advanced degrees and certifications. Outlined below are some additional compensation changes for the 2025-26 school year.
Different roles will have different compensation structures and start dates.
Until now, most Meeting Street Schools’ employees have been on the same pay scale, regardless of their role, responsibilities or impact. That means we have paid staff members similarly even when the expectations, accountability and time demands are substantially different. A seventh-grade math teacher has a different role than a behavior interventionist, but we historically set pay using the same salary schedule. This is irrational.
Homeroom teachers of core kindergarten through eighth grade academic subjects (reading, math, science and social studies) will be paid on a different scale than other instructional, support and enrichment staff. The reality is that these core academic educators have more at stake with direct accountability for outcomes, and that must be reflected in how we recruit and compensate.
That’s also why some enrichment and support educators will have a later return date after summer break; behavioral support, speech language pathologists, occupational therapists and counselors will begin the school year on July 28.
During recent one-on-one meetings with senior leaders, some staff questioned whether this kind of differentiation devalued their role or was fair. To be clear, all staff play a part in operating excellent schools. But doctors earn more than nurses and X-ray technicians, and all three positions are integral to healthcare systems.
Our pay will be competitive and will match our high expectations, but we do not seek to mirror the exact pay scales for every role in nearby school districts. Meeting Street Schools will be one of the best employers for those who want to work hard and change lives.
We will be sharing an email by Friday with instructions on how to see our new pay scales as well as your specific salary, title, role and start date. Those details for our operations team will be shared in coming weeks.
We’re eliminating most stipends.
Stipends varied substantially across our network, with a lack of consistency for similar positions, workloads and results. Stipends will continue to be awarded to grade level chairs, who will now receive $10,000. Athletic directors and coaches also will receive stipends because of the significant time associated with these roles.
Retention bonuses tied to milestone years are ending.
Effective July 1, 2026, we will no longer provide financial bonuses for years of service. We want to recognize loyalty in a manner that reflects our values and priorities. We will invest more in competitive salaries, benefits and ensuring we are operating the best schools we possibly can. We will build new traditions to celebrate milestone years of service, and we look forward to sharing more about that next school year.
We’ve standardized how non-Meeting Street Schools work experience is credited.
New hires will receive up to five years of credit for previous work. This creates fairness and consistency across our schools. We will not retroactively change years of experience for current staff.
In closing, we are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence, and these changes reflect our boldest aspirations. I’m proud of what we’re building together and grateful for the work you do. Thank you for being part of this team and for everything you do to make Meeting Street Schools an engine of opportunity in our state.
In partnership,
Josh Bell
President | Beemok Education
Board member | Meeting Street Schools
