Employees in the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School district who were already scheduled to receive a bonus payment this spring are getting another extra payment.
On the recommendation of Superintendent Jeremy Owoh, the School Board on Monday approved extra compensation of $11 a day for each day worked in this 2021-22 school year.
Owoh told board members that they had charged him several months ago to seek out ways to increase pay for support staff in particular. He said district administrators concluded that the covid-19 pandemic had put more work on all employees -- leading to the $11 a day extra pay plan.
The extra pay will go to all 307 state-licensed educators and 175 support staff, except the superintendent. The amounts going to individual employees will vary because the number of days they work vary, ranging from 178 to 244 days, depending on the job.
The nearly $1.5 million cost of the extra payment -- including fringe benefit costs -- will come from the America Recovery Act federal covid-19 relief funding.
The one-time checks will be distributed in June, if not earlier, Owoh said.
The extra compensation approved Monday comes on top of the employee bonus plan approved in late 2021.
In November, the School Board approved a bonus to be paid to all employees in two installments.
The district's state-licensed employees -- including teachers -- were approved to receive a total of $1,850 with a first $1,000 installment of that to be paid this past December and the second installment of at least $850 to be paid in May.
Classified employees were approved to receive $1,250, with $1,000 to be paid in December and $250 in May.
The total cost -- including the benefits such as retirement contributions -- for the first bonus was an estimated $677,055 for the licensed teachers and $382,500 for the support staff.
The November-approved bonuses are being funded differently than the compensation plan approved Monday.
The November bonus for the teachers is being paid out of the state's Teacher Salary Equalization Fund, which was approved by state lawmakers in early 2021.
The fund is intended to be used to narrow the gap between the average teacher salaries paid by school systems statewide. The source of the money for the November bonus for the support staff was the district's operating fund.
The Jacksonville/North Pulaski School Board has dealt with employee pay issues frequently this school year.
In addition to the extra pay plans, the board in February approved across-the-board pay increases for employees, including teachers, for the upcoming 2022-23 school year.
The plan calls for the beginning teacher salary to be increased by 4%, as will all other steps on the salary schedule.
"The beginning salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience will increase from $39,500 this current school year to $41,080 in the coming school year.
The top salary in the district will go from $59,000 this school year to $61,360 in the coming year for teachers with at least 28 years of experience and a master's degree plus 10 additional credit hours.
The state's Teacher Salary Equalization Fund is assisting the district in its efforts to raise educator salaries.
Act 679 of 2021 created the Teacher Salary Equalization Fund to raise average teacher salaries statewide by providing money to those school districts that have an average teacher salary below the state average.