Wake schools want to thank employees for their pandemic service with a bonus, raises
The Wake County school board will vote Tuesday on a plan to provide bonuses and raises “in recognition of employee efforts and service during the pandemic.”
In an email sent Thursday to district employees, Wake said options for employee bonuses and salary increases will be presented for a vote at Tuesday’s school board meeting. Wake could approve a $1,250 retention bonus, raising employee salaries to a minimum of $13 an hour and a 1% increase in the local salary supplement paid to teachers.
The plan for higher pay comes as Wake and other school districts across the nation have seen massive staffing shortages that have forced the remaining workers to do more to fill the gap. The high vacancy rate and low pay is one reason why some bus driver called in sick on Friday to protest working conditions, leading to numerous bus delays.
The state is responsible for paying the base salaries of most school employees. But with a state budget not yet approved, school board members urged staff last week to come up with a plan to use federal COVID relief money to reward school employees.
“There are real limitations to how long people can go without a raise and our folks are not just bus drivers and teachers and instructional assistants and cafeteria workers,” Kristin Beller, president of Wake NCAE, said in an interview Thursday. “They’re not just workers in a school system. They’re human beings who’ve lived through the COVID pandemic just like everyone else.
“They’ve lost family members to COVID. They’ve racked up hospital bills. Some had hours cut last year. They shifted their families and lives to provide meals and support to students when less was known last year.”
School districts across the state, including Durham and Chapel Hill-Carrboro, have also used part of their federal COVID dollars to increase compensation for school employees.
Bonuses, raises to be discussed
In its email, Wake listed what it called the “most likely to be considered” proposals:
▪ A one-time recognition and retention bonus of $1,250 to be paid in the November paycheck to all employees who currently receive benefits. Part-time staff would receive a prorated bonus.
▪ An increase to bring all employees to a minimum of $13 an hour. This would be retroactive to July 1 and be included in the December paycheck.
▪ A 1% increase in the local supplement paid to certified staff retroactive to July 1. This increase, which would be paid in the December paycheck, would go to people paid on the teacher and student services personnel scales.
The options will be discussed at the board work session that begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The vote will occur at the regular meeting that starts at 5:30 p.m.
“We also will continue to await approval of a state budget to determine next steps for additional compensation increases for 2021-2022,” Wake said in the email. “We are hopeful that we will see future salary increases for other employees and employee groups once final state and local budgets are passed.”
Even after Tuesday’s vote, Wake said future discussions are also expected about additional employee bonuses this year and through 2023-2024.
Beller said Wake school employees deserve pay increases from the district and the state. She said employees deserve hazard pay for working at a time when most schools are full with no social distancing and with what she called “inadequate contact tracing” for COVID-19 cases.
“Wake NCAE is 100% for all employees who are working in-person to receive bonuses for the hazardous conditions that people are working in,” Beller said.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 11:02 AM.
