RCS teachers will receive retention pay

The bonuses apply to permanent full-time employees and also permanent parti-time employees. The permanent full-time employees will receive a bonus of $1,500; while the permanent part-time employees will receive $1,125.

Officials said a growing number of North Carolina public school systems are using a portion of federal pandemic relief funding to pay for the employee retention bonuses.

“Those bonuses effectively represent financial rewards intended to incentivize employees’ continued employment in the face of widespread fatigue and depressed morale given persistent challenges associated with COVID-19, labor shortages across numerous employment sectors, and more favorable wages that attract school employees to job opportunities within the private sector,” Sutton told the board.

He noted that school systems in Cherokee, Clay, Asheville City, Buncombe, Swain, McDowell, Hickory City, Cleveland and Burke have already announced specific plans to provide retention bonuses in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 per employee. More school systems have plans to do the same thing, some with even higher amounts for the bonuses.

“Supporting students’ academic recovery, providing for their general and specific social and emotional needs, and ensuring continuity of critical operational services require a stable, well-trained, and highly qualified workforce,” Sutton said. “Employee attrition, and especially unplanned employee attrition, significantly disrupts that important work, and the generalized workforce shortage evident across numerous employment sectors makes employee replacement especially difficult, worsening the disruptive effects of staffing turbulence in schools, classrooms, offices, buses, and other workplace settings.”

He continued, “Against that backdrop, it is important that we take sensible, proactive steps to maintain our current workforce.”

School officials estimated the bonuses will cost approximately $2 million. Payment of the bonuses will be on Friday, Dec. 17. Eligible recipients must be employed by RCS on the date of payment, and must attest to their intent to maintain their employment through the 2021-2022 school year. Any eligible recipient who, for any reason, separates from employment before the end of the school year, must fully refund RCS any retention bonus he or she received.

Also at the meeting, board members again discussed how COVID-19 is affecting students and staff, and ongoing mitigation efforts.

Beginning Friday, Dec. 3, face masks became optional in RCS facilities, except when riding a school bus. This change occurred because the board had previously agreed that when Covid-19 transmission rate improved from “high” to “substantial” for seven consecutive days, masks would become optional.

Sutton, armed with charts filled with data, explained exposures to covid, and numbers of students and staff in quarantine have improved dramatically, compared to earlier in the semester.

For example, on Sept. 2, a total of 1,042 students were excluded from school because of covid. On Dec. 1, that number was 96. Of those 96, only 26% were excluded because of school-based covid exposure.

As required by state law, the board again voted on face mask policy. They voted to maintain the board’s current policy, which at this time means face masks are optional.

Only board member Brandi Nanney voted against the measure.