At the Thursday, Jan. 20 school board meeting, the Victoria ISD School Board of Trustees approved a one-time retention and acquisition stipend for district staff for the 2022-23 school year. Reserved ESSER III funds are funding the retention and acquisition stipend.
Current employees who return to VISD for the 2022-23 school year will receive a one-time retention stipend as a “thank you” for their hard work and dedication to the students and community of Victoria, as well as a huge “thank you” for returning for another school year.
“We are extremely grateful to the Board of Trustees for their unwavering commitment to our current employees and for their support with acquiring new employees for the 2022-23 school year,” said Tammy Nobles, executive director of Talent Acquisition, Support, and Retention. “Finding qualified staff to hire in this day and age is very challenging nationwide. This financial incentive positively benefits and impacts our students’ ability to learn by establishing consistency and reducing employee turnover while simultaneously luring prospective employees to VISD to fill our vacancies.”
ESSER III Retention & Acquisition Stipend Plan
Full-time certified teachers and other employees on the teacher or administrative pay scales will receive $3,000. Full-time employees on the paraprofessional/clerical and classified pay scales will receive $1,500. Of these total amounts, 50% will be paid in a lump sum in September, 25% in January 2023, and 25% in June 2023.
Half-time teachers will receive $1,500 with 50% paid in September. 3-hour teachers will receive $1,125 total, and other part-time employees with specific employment calendars will receive a prorated amount commensurate with their number of required work hours and days.
Substitute workers who work 50% or more of the full student instructional days offered in the fall semester shall receive $500 paid in January. If they work 50% or more of the spring semester student days offered, they will receive an additional $500 in June. Substitute workers who do not work full days may add their half days together to equate 50% full days.
This plan impacts most employees, except for the superintendent and a few other very limited positions such as lifeguards, AVID tutors, and various other seasonal positions that do not work under a routine duty calendar.
As part of the plan, new hires for the next school year in the same previously mentioned categories are eligible for these same amounts as an acquisition stipend. Employees who do not complete the full 2022-23 school year or are hired throughout the year will be eligible for a proration of the appropriate stipend.
This one-time retention/acquisition stipend provides a targeted financial incentive to remain with the district for another school year, along with adding a significant financial opportunity for new hires who choose Victoria ISD.
“Our employees have risen to the challenge again and again during this pandemic. We are grateful to them for their dedication to our students and our community,” said Randall Meyer, Chief Financial Officer of VISD. “This retention and acquisition stipend addresses the staffing shortages we have seen across our state and positions our district to provide competitive pay in this highly competitive market.”
The district will also use ESSER III funds to build a more extensive base of ESL certified teachers. Any certified classroom teacher and/or campus instructional coach who holds or obtains an ESL certification before Sept. 1, 2022, is eligible for a one-time lump sum payment of $1,000 to be paid in September 2022.
With the ESL certification, full-time certified teachers and instructional coaches have the potential to receive up to a total of $4,000 as a one-time stipend for the 2022-23 school year!