Hutto ISD approves stipends for special education, police department positions

Hutto ISD administrators are employing new methods of retaining qualified staff through additional stipends.

In a nutshell

The board of trustees approved a measure May 28 to provide additional stipends for some special education positions, as well as members of the district's police department.

Administrators said the additional funds would go a long way to rewarding educators who stay with the district, as compensation is often a factor in losing talent.

The details

Special education positions presented for stipends include in-classroom positions, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists. Several positions had not previously received stipends, administrators said. The total budget impact of these stipends is $334,500.

Police department stipends will be slightly different, interim Chief Robert Gauvin said. Hutto ISD Police Department officers can earn up to $7,000 in stipends, depending on how they perform across a variety of areas.

Presented together, the stipend package is intended to address area compensation competition for positions that are difficult to staff for the long-term, administrators said.

What they're saying

The longest tenured officer in the district's police department has only been there for three years, following the resignation of another officer who had been with the district for five years, Gauvin said.

"That's not the standard we want," Gauvin said. "We want them to be able to follow these kids all the way from elementary school through graduation."