At its April 28 virtual meeting, the Montgomery ISD board of trustees approved granting a $500 one-time stipend for most MISD staff—including teachers, administrators, librarians, speech teachers and counselors—to help offset the costs of remote learning. A total of 675 employees would receive stipends, MISD officials said.

“We’ve looked at what some other districts have done as well in terms of providing some type of assistance to instructional staff to offset some of the cost of setting up home classrooms, remote learning, if they have to upgrade their internet service or provider ... or even things like purchasing print cartridges,” Superintendent Beau Rees said.

The board presented two scenarios: Giving a one-time stipend of $300 for a total of $202,500 or $500 stipends for a total of $337,500. Trustees raised concerns and questions about the district’s budget and deficit and whether to save that money for future raises but ultimately voted 5-2 for the latter.

Because the stipends were not in the district’s budget, it would require a budget amendment, school officials said. Funding will come from the district’s fund balance.