About 3,600 Shawnee Mission employees are months away from a one-time $1,000 bonus.
The board of education on Monday unanimously approved the one-time retention bonuses.
It’s another acknowledgment of the headwinds local schools have had trying to maintain full staffing levels in recent years, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total price tag is an roughly $3.6M
- The bonuses will be paid through federal pandemic relief funds, known as ESSER III, and not from the district’s general operating budget.
- Qualifying employees will get the extra $1,000 payment in September.
- “With the intent of honoring the incredible work of our employees for this school year, and we would like to retain as many as possible moving into [next school year], I recommend the payment of $1,000 to every qualifying employee,” Superintendent Michelle Hubbard said at Monday’s meeting.
This is the second such bonus in as many years
- The district issued a one-time $700 retention bonus to qualifying employees last September.
- That bonus was aimed at rewarding employees who worked through the pandemic-impacted 2021-22 school year.
- The $700 bonuses cost the district approximately $2.3 million, also paid out of federal pandemic relief funds.
How employees qualify for this $1K bonus
- First, employees must have been with the district on or before Jan. 25, according to board documents.
- They must also have completed their 2022-23 contract without any “gap” in their employment.
- Employees must then continue their employment into next school year or start a new contract if they are certified staff, like classroom teachers.
- Finally, employees must still be employed when the retention payments are being processed around Sept. 5.
Staffing shortages are a broader challenge
- Shawnee Mission and other Johnson County school districts have struggled to fill staff vacancies, particularly among non-teaching staff in the last three years.
- Shawnee Mission launched pay incentive programs to try and address this issue, and also boosted substitute teacher pay — twice.
- A statewide teacher shortage prompted calls for higher salaries and paying student teachers, KCUR reports.
- Outside of Johnson County, some of the Kansas City metro area’s most affluent suburbs struggled to staff each classroom in fall 2022, the Kansas City Star reports.
Go deeper: From school fees to COVID-19 — Here’s what will be different in Shawnee Mission this year
