District staff Lamar CISD staff will receive a $500 stipend to start off the 2024-25 school year, district leadership announced at the convocation event Aug. 7.
The overview
LCISD will use federal pandemic relief funds—known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief—to provide the retention stipends, LCISD Director of Communications Kristen Cobb said.
Stipends will be awarded for full- or part-time employees who were hired on or before Aug. 7. Substitutes, temporary or seasonal workers are not eligible, although long-term substitutes with an approved assignment are eligible, district officials said in an email.
This comes after the board of trustees also adopted raises in late May for teachers and other staff that included:
- Upping the starting teacher salary from $62,500 to $64,100
- Providing a flat raise of $2,000 for teachers and other staff paid on the teacher salary schedule, which includes nurses, librarians and counselors
- Giving a 3% raise for all other staff from the midpoint
“Money doesn’t fix everything, but it can go a long way,” LCISD Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said in a LCISD news release. “On behalf of Lamar CISD, we appreciate the support of our board of trustees and our Payroll Department for making this happen for our deserving employees.”
What else
Meanwhile, LCISD also faces a $537,740 surplus for the fiscal year 2024-25 budget, which is set to be approved by trustees Aug. 27. The surplus is due to district property tax appraisals coming in higher than anticipated, Chief Financial Officer Jill Ludwig said at an Aug. 5 special board meeting.
Zooming out
Nearby school district Katy ISD also approved a lump sum payment for teachers in mid-July. The payment, which could range from $250-$3,000, will be given to teachers in five-year intervals and is meant to encourage retention and attract tenured teachers, according to a KISD news release.
