Teacher reps advocate for staff bonuses

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Board to also consider funding those left out of Gov. Reynolds' bonus program

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

FORT MADISON - Fort Madison teacher representatives took a cue from Central Lee and requested bonuses from the district on top of state bonuses coming soon.

Last month, Central Lee paid staff a bonus on top of the money allocated under a program from Gov. Kim Reynolds using a portion of the state's federal pandemic stimulus.

At Monday's regular meeting of the Fort Madison Community School District Board of Directors, several teachers advocated for similar bonuses for Fort Madison staff.

Cory Byrne, the president of the Fort Madison Education Association, said the extra money from the district's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding, is essential to retaining quality teachers in the district.

"I know you might think we don't teach for the money, but it's important to staff," he said. "We've been advocating for this for two years. The ESSER funds have been around for quite a while now."

He said the union has been asking for bonuses going back to labor/management talks last year. The district put in a formal request last May and the union was told the board wouldn't be going forward with any bonuses.

The union brought the bonuses back up in February with four different proposals. One was a stipend for all employees.

On Monday the board had a discussion on a board-generated retention bonus for staff who stay on with the district for next year, but tabled the discussion until the district had specific numbers on what is remaining in the district's ESSER fund.

Teacher Dawn Johnson asked that the district also consider paying the staff that was left out of the Governor's program with the district's American Rescue Plan Act funding.

"It's a teacher's market and I would say a retention bonus needs to happen fast. It's overdue. We're in March and there are lots of positions open. I want to keep my colleagues here. I want to keep these awesome teachers here for our kids," Byrne said.

Governor Kim Reynolds' program pays the bonus to full-time teachers hired prior to Oct. 1, 2021 and finishing out the 2021-22 school year. TLS teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, nurses, and librarians were left out of the state bonus program.

Teachers would get the state bonus on the March 31 payroll paid for by the district and then reimbursed by the state for all eligible teachers. The district also pays the FICA taxes on the bonus and then would be reimbursed separately. Teachers that are planning on retiring at the end of the year do qualify for that state bonus.

Rachella Dravis, a district teacher and National Education Association Director, said 40 school districts in the state have already paid a bonus to staff, in addition to Reynolds' program.

Superintendent Dr. Erin Slater said the district is over budget on HVAC improvements at the high school to bring air conditioning to the entire building. The project was funded with ESSER funds and Slater said the district needed to retool the fund to see how much was left in it.

Slater said she didn't want to get ahead of what the board was thinking so she didn't bring in any payment estimate, but just have the conversation around the retention bonus.

SLATER

"This would be for those who worked for us last year and will be staying to work for us next year," Slater said.

Board member Brad Menke asked if the bonus would be paid across the board to all staff. Board President Dianne Hope said she would like to see every full-time employee in the district be included in the program and it be equal to the governor's $1,000 bonus.

Board member Mio Santiago said the discussion should also include trying to fund those that were left out of Reynolds' program, as well as the additional retention bonus.

Hope said she would like to see the payment before the start of the school year, but board member Paul Wilkerson said employees could take the bonus and then not come back at the start of the year. He said he would like to see a fall payment.

District Finance Director Sandy Elmore wasn't in attendance at the meeting and couldn't provide detailed information on the fund so the issue was tabled until the April meeting.

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