$7,500 bonus on tap for BR teachers hired in core subjects
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Teachers of core subjects — English, math, science and social studies — are eligible for a $7,500 hiring bonus in the East Baton Rouge Parish school district.
The move comes as the system continues to struggle to staff schools for the upcoming year. On Thursday, the district reported 233 vacant positions, 110 of which were in the core subject areas, The Advocate reported.
“This proposal will give us a competitive edge against neighboring parishes offering similar sign-on bonuses,” Nichola Hall, chief human resources officer, wrote in a memo.
Hall said the bonus will go only to teachers hired between May 24 and Aug. 5. To be eligible, in addition to teaching in a core subject, the teachers must have a current teaching license and commit in writing to stay with the school system for three years.
The parish School Board on Thursday voted 7-1 in favor of the new hiring bonus. The school system is proposing spending almost $1.1 million for the bonuses, which will cover more than 100 teachers. The funding will come from federal COVID relief money.
Before the vote, several speakers expressed concern that the move would anger current staff who won’t be receiving the bonus.
Superintendent Sito Narcisse plans to come back early in the new school year with an employee stipend covering the bulk of employees. It's intended to serve as gap fill-in until a future across-the-board employee pay raise of 8% for the 2023-24 school year kicks in.
Narcisse said he plans to propose two stipends to the board when it meets in August, one for the fall, one for the spring. He didn't release details of how much it will be.
“I hesitate to give you a number right now,” he said.
Teachers return Aug. 1 and students return Aug. 8.