Lexington County’s largest school district has increased its pay rate for teachers.

At its regular meeting April 25, Lexington County School District 1’s Board of Trustees announced that it had increased pay for every teacher by $2,500 for the 2023-24 school year after coming out of executive session.

Before entering executive session, the board completed first reading of the 2023-24 operating budget.

During her superintendent report to the board, Geritta Postlewait shared that three needs heard from teachers are increasing pay, bonuses and grade-level teaching assistants, with pay being the top concern.

Postlewait emphasized that the district could afford adding increased pay to the budget.

“Funding these priorities continues to be a challenge in the face of unprecedented inflation and employee shortages,” Postlewait said in a statement provided to the Chronicle. “However, our Board of Trustees and district leaders are determined to send a strong message of support to our employees by including step increases in addition to salary increases in the proposed budget.”

Council also completed first reading to choose a name for a forthcoming school in the White Knoll area, throwing the names out to the community to share their opinions before second reading.

A committee, consisting of administrators and community members local to the school's area, voted Blue Hill Elementary, Blue Heights Elementary and Bluefield Elementary as the top three options for the school’s name.

Matt Warren, the district’s interim chief operations officer, shared that when it comes to naming the school, the location is taken into account, including road names, along with historical significance.

He shared that there isn’t a definitive name for the area, but significant landmarks include a blueberry farm, Bluefield Road, the spring that provided the name for Platt Springs Road, and Bethany Church.

Warren mentioned that construction on the elementary school, which broke ground earlier this year, is going smoothly. He shared that the retaining walls are being installed along with the underground sewer. He added that underground electrical work has been completed.

“It's a lot that goes into the work before building starts to come out and we're making very good progress with foundations,” Warren said.