Are employees working in the Fayette County School System getting paid what they’re worth? Are their salaries comparable to what employees in surrounding counties are earning?

Those are two questions the Fayette County Board of Education will address by hiring consultant Dennis Fordham, a retired superintendent and former president of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, to conduct a $54,500 comprehensive employee compensation study for the district.

The board voted unanimously Monday to move forward with the study.

Industry standards suggest that a comprehensive assessment of compensation and classification structures be undertaken at least every five years.

One of the school system’s biggest concerns is losing teachers because it isn’t paying them enough money.

“We’re losing teachers,” Dr. Reanee Ellis, director of human resources, said. “We’re fighting constantly to get highly qualified teachers ... because we’re not paying them enough.”

“Our quandary is our proximity to richer districts,” Chairman Terri Smith said. “We always have a limited pile of money. There’s no disputing that.

“I wish everybody had enough money and was happy, but that is not the real world. I want everybody compensated fairly.”

The survey will look at the salary structure for school systems in 13 counties, including the ones that are giving Fayette the most competition for teachers: Henry, Clayton, Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett, among others.

Board member Lee Wright supported conducting the survey because he wants the board to vie for the best teachers and administrators.

“We definitely want to compete for the best talent,” Wright said. “We want to have a progressive system and recruit the best talent here. We need to be competitive with administrators, too.”

The board was somewhat leery about going ahead with the survey due to budget constraints and other factors. Even when the survey is completed, the board may not be able to implement all the recommendations because of a lack of money.

“Our budget is a problem,” Superintendent John DeCotis said. “The last four years, we lost about $20 million in state revenue. And with the the housing market the way it is, that doesn’t help, either. Whatever comes out of this survey, we should implement things very slowly.”

Another potential problem: If the board increases the salaries of its current teachers, that might mean it will be forced to hire fewer teachers in the future.

“We may have to lower the number of teachers we hire to afford our teachers,” Smith said.

In other business, the board, in executive session, appointed interim Comptroller Laura Brock to serve full time in the same position.