Most Austin school district employees to get $1,000 COVID-19 retention checks

Aiming to boost morale and retain employees during the coronavirus crisis, the Austin school board has approved $1,000 bonus checks for most employees.

Overall, the $12.4 million, which includes social security payments paid by the district, will go to 11,205 employees.

A resolution approved by the board members Thursday night declared they were issuing the checks because teachers and staff "have been working above and beyond their typical job duties in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and meet ongoing student needs."

The Austin board and superintendent "have a substantial public interest in providing recognition to employees providing service to the district above and beyond their job description and expectations thereby enhancing employee morale and promoting employee retention," continued the resolution.

School district employees who earn at least $150,000 will not get the $1,000 payments, the board decided. Eligible staff should expect the bonuses are part of their March 12 paychecks.

"This is about how we can demonstrate our appreciation of employees in this small way," trustee Noelita Lugo said. 

It has been a rocky year for the school district, as it has for districts across the country, as teachers and staff have had to balance a deadly pandemic and personal health with teaching students remotely and in person. After giving teachers wide berth to opt out of in-person instruction in the fall, district officials decided to give far less latitude this term — leading to scores of teacher resignations and labor grievances. 

Meanwhile, the board has been in a push-and-pull struggle with state officials about when to close schools as COVID-19 cases have spiked and ebbed locally.

At Thursday's meeting, bus drivers, teachers and cafeteria workers weighed in about the bonus payments — as originally drawn up, part-time employees would have received $500 and full-time employees would have gotten $100.

"We're in the front line and deserve the $1,000 just as well as other employees," a bus driver named Janet Williams said.

District officials ultimately decided that 10,562 full-time and 643 part-time employees would be eligible for the full $1,000 apiece.

"It's going to be tighter than I'd like it to be, but given the current circumstances, in the best interests of working collaboratively," paying all those employees equally was the best path forward, Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde told the board.

Qualifying part-time employees work fewer than 40 hours per week in a permanent position. Temporary employees — at least hundreds of individuals — are not eligible for the $1,000 payments.

Cutting such checks for those employees, who "work a couple of hours here or a couple of hours there, from time to time," Elizalde told the board, would strain district finances.

The money will come from deferring payment into a self-funded medical fund, which officials said is stable.

"So great!" Bronwyn Merritt, a fourth grade teacher at Brentwood Elementary, wrote on Facebook. "That was a lot harder than it should have been and also was easier changed than it should have been. We should all be paid from the start without begging."

But Jill Yonnone, a special education instructor who said she resigned from the district in January partly over safety concerns, told the board that "while the financial incentive will no doubt be helpful, it does not address the bigger issue of worker conditions."