COLUMBUS, Ind. — The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. is compensating staff members for their work amid the pandemic.
The school board approved giving COVID-19 stipends to support staff at its Monday night meeting.
Superintendent Jim Roberts reminded the board that in the fall, they approved a resolution for teacher stipends.
“They are not the only ones that have some additional stuff added to their plate,” he said. “Our support staff has done a tremendous job in managing all the things that we’ve been doing since last March 23 and up to today.”
The board approved the support staff stipends unanimously.
“I’m thankful that we have the right staff in place to wrestle with all of the COVID-19 challenges that we’re facing,” said board member Rich Stenner.
Permanent support staff members are receiving stipends, said Assistant Superintendent of Financial Services Chad Phillips. Full-time staff will receive $200; part-time staff will receive $100. Roberts said in a memo to employees that eligible support staff members are those who also received a stipend in early December.
Phillips said that just over 900 individuals will receive these staff stipends, and the school corporation plans to have these payments included in the employees’ Feb. 26 paychecks. He also estimated that the total cost of these stipends will be about $175,000.
The stipends are a way to thank support staff who helped the school corporation make it through the first semester successfully, he said.
Staff members will also see pay increases in 2021. In October, the board approved a 2 percent increase to the pay matrix for support staff. In addition, bus drivers will see an increase of $2 per hour under the referendum and other support staff will see an increase of $1 per hour. Officials said that both increases would begin on Jan. 1.
While the referendum’s tax increase won’t take effect until May 2021, school officials said in the past that issuing a tax anticipation warrant in January would allow the board to start spending funds and enact pay increases prior to collection of that tax revenue.
