After considering whether to offer stipends to Spanish-speaking administrators, Spring ISD trustees opted to table their decision for a second time March 21.

The details: Under the district’s policy, bilingual teachers receive a $5,500 stipend, but they lose the money if they are promoted to an administrator position as previously reported by Community Impact.

• The district expects 18 out of 135 total administrators to qualify for the stipend.
• If approved, this stipend would impact the 2023-24 budget.

How we got here: Trustees first delayed their decision on whether to grant SISD administrators the stipend for speaking fluent Spanish on Jan. 10.

Did you know? According to a March 7 presentation from SISD:

• 33% of SISD’s student population, or 10,712 students, are considered Emergent Bilingual or English as a Second Language learners.

What trustees are saying: Some trustees expressed their support for the idea, citing the need for Spanish-speaking families to be able to talk to a campus leader.

“We're incentivizing a skill, not a demographic or population,” board Vice President Winford Adams Jr. said. “We're incentivizing people, whether they're Hispanic or not, who speak Spanish because that is a need for our district.”

Other trustees voiced concerns, such as the cost and the equity of the stipends.

“I support the intent,” board President Justine Durant said. “I don't support this process so [the stipends are] going to [administrators]. I mean, who do parents really talk to when they come in, and who do they really need to communicate with?”