WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW ROADS - Some teachers in Pointe Coupee Parish admit they're looking for jobs somewhere else. They say it's because the school board froze their pay again.

Pointe Coupee schools superintendent Linda D'Amico said the decision to freeze salaries will save the system more than $300,000, but adds she realizes they may lose some teachers in the process.

"We know that four teachers have left for West Feliciana," she told News 2 today.

Hilda Haynes-Smith taught in Pointe Coupee Parish Schools more than 30 years. She says she's lucky she retired last year, right before the first freeze.

"They have bills to pay too," Smith said. "Remember that a lot of the materials for our students for the classroom were paid for by teachers sticking their hands in their own pockets."

The base salary for teachers with a bachelor's degree in Pointe Coupee Parish is $38,000. Most teachers would have received about $300 more this year without the freeze.

D'Amico says she's aware surrounding school systems such as West Feliciana and East Baton Rouge pay thousands more, but keeping the salaries where they are will help the cash-strapped parish avoid layoffs.

"We need to seek local support to increase our millage so we would have the funds to support our schools system and our students.. and to give teachers and employees what they truly deserve," D'Amico said.