Wake school cafeteria workers will get $1,350 more in bonuses. Here’s the plan.
Updated with Wake County school board approving bonus plan on April 5.
Wake County school cafeteria workers will get up to an additional $1,350 in bonuses as a way of thanking them for staying on the job during a time of extensive staffing shortages.
School administrators recommended March 15 using COVID relief dollars to provide school nutrition workers bonuses ranging between $450 and $1,350 depending on whether they’ve worked the full school year. The new proposal comes on top of other bonuses and raises that have been given to recruit cafeteria workers, who are among the lowest-paid employees in the school district.
The school board approved the bonus plan on April 5.
“We know the importance of the work that they do for our students each and every day, so thank you for bringing this to us and to those folks who have worked really hard over this pandemic,” said school board chairwoman Lindsay Mahaffey.
Like school districts across the nation, Wake has had significant problems staffing school cafeterias. It’s put more work on the people who are charged daily with preparing and serving the meals given to students.
Some Wake school cafeteria workers called out sick in November to protest low pay and working conditions. It led to dozens of schools asking parents to have students bring their own food.
In response, the school board agreed in November to up the bonuses that will be provided to all school employees, including cafeteria workers. Those employees will now get up to $5,000 in bonuses if they’re still working in Wake this November.
The school board also agreed in December to raise the minimum salary for school support staff to $15 an hour.
Paula De Lucca, Wake’s senior director of child nutrition services, credited the raises and bonuses for helping to lower the department’s vacancy rate to 15%. It had been at more than 20% for much of the school year.
“We are seeing progress,” De Lucca told the school board. “We are very grateful for the increases and the bonuses that have been provided so far.
“I believe that has provided some opportunities for staff that have been in need of that recognition and income.”
Details of new bonus plan
The staffing shortage is an issue throughout North Carolina, so the State Board of Education approved a plan in September to use $10 million in federal COVID dollars to provide bonuses for cafeteria workers.
Wake is the state’s largest school district, so it’s getting $1 million of the money. De Lucca said that Wake had to use the money to pay for bonuses for nutrition staff or return the money to the state.
Under the plan laid out Tuesday, Wake cafeteria workers would get a $450 bonus if they were employed on July 1, 2021 in school nutrition, another $450 if the were in school nutrition as of Jan. 3, 2022 and $450 more if they’re still employed as of April 1, 2022.
De Lucca said the bonuses will be pro-rated for part-time nutrition staff.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 5:07 PM.
