What’s happening?
The board of trustees approved distributing one-time payments of $1,000 or less to all district employees at a Dec. 13 meeting, excluding contracted workers and substitutes. Full-time employees will receive $1,000 while those working less than an eight-hour work day will receive a prorated amount, according to district documents.
The $1.4 million in payments will be funded through the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief Fund, known as ESSER. The federal funding was distributed amid the coronavirus pandemic to help districts maintain their operations, continue providing services and continue employing existing staff, said Pam Sanchez, LTISD assistant superintendent for business services.
The impact
The one-time payments are intended to retain staff members who face rising inflation, high costs of living and may have been impacted by vacancies in the district, Sanchez said.
“The last couple of years, it's been difficult. We have had vacancies. We've had teachers cover teachers. Same with our food service staff [and] maintenance,” Sanchez said. “They're working tirelessly, and so we want to continue that appreciation.”
The cost
The district had around $2.2 million in ESSER funds as of August and must spend all remaining funds before they expire in September 2024, Sanchez said. The loss of funding could impact the district’s ability to provide one-time payments next school year, she said.
Around $450,000 of the remaining ESSER funding this school year will go toward salaries for special education instructional coaches, social workers and an intervention teacher, while $300,000 will go toward summer school programs, Sanchez said.
District officials plan to include those positions in the district’s general budget next school year, she said. As for summer school, the district will need to re-evaluate how to cover the program and may have to charge students who aren’t mandated to attend, she said.
