By CALEB FREY

Staff Reporter

EDGARD – Nearly two months after St. John parish announced it would be giving their employees a 4 percent raise, the school board announced Thursday the state would also be adding to that raise, securing a top five position in pay for its public school teachers.

The State certified and support raise will add $1,762 in pay to certified teachers working a nine-month year and $500 to all support employees.

St. John School Finance Director Felix Boughton said the school was in the top five in the state before this additional raise, but those numbers may have changed due to other nearby parishes

mimicking St. John’s school system pay raise.

&#8220I don’t think we’ll be first but we’ll definitely be in the top five,” Boughton said. &#8220It’s hard to figure out our exact ranking because other schools have also given raises.”

The Louisiana Department of Education releases official rankings each year and Boughton said he wouldn’t know for sure until those are released.

&#8220It’s hard to say where we’ll rank because other schools have given pay raises since ours,

According to the DOE, the minimum salary for a teacher in St. John with a bachelor’s degree and no previous experience teaching was just under $33,000 for the 2004-2005 school year.