Beaufort Co. teachers, staff could get COVID hazard bonus if school board approves
Beaufort County School District is working on a “one-time stipend” for COVID-19 hazard pay for all employees, subject to school board approval, according to a Sunday night message from Superintendent Frank Rodriguez.
School board member Ingrid Boatright made a motion for the board’s finance committee to investigate “$1,000 for hazard pay for teachers and staff” at the board’s Jan. 7 meeting. The motion, prompted by members David Striebinger and William Smith, passed unanimously.
“I want to be clear — if approved by the board, this one-time stipend will be for all our employees, not just those in the classroom,” Rodriguez said in a call to employees Sunday. “Each one of you contributes to the education of the children of Beaufort County.”
It’s unclear whether “all our employees” will include contractors such as the district’s maintenance and cafeteria workers.
District spokesperson Candace Bruder said Monday that she could not discuss specifics of the one-time stipend — including where the money would come from — until it was brought to the finance committee, which consists of Earl Campbell, Rachel Wisnefski and chairperson Richard Geier.
Robyn Cushingberry, the school board’s executive assistant, said Monday that the next finance committee meeting has not been scheduled.
School board chairperson Christina Gwozdz made new committee appointments Jan. 19, and no future committee meetings are listed on the board’s calendar yet. The full board’s next meetings are Feb. 2 and 16.
A few other school districts in South Carolina have already approved similar one-time bonuses.
In Richland County, District 1’s school board voted in October to give a $500 bonus to part-time employees and a $1,000 bonus to full-time employees, according to The Post & Courier.
In September, the Charleston County school board approved a one-time $500 bonus for full-time employees and a prorated bonus for part-time employees, which cost an estimated $5.2 million.
A new mental health initiative
School staff have been hit hard by the pandemic. In June, the school board and Beaufort County Council approved a “temporary” annual budget for the district that froze pay at last year’s levels, meaning that employees haven’t received an annual raise.
Last week, Rodriguez told board members that 87 district employees were currently in quarantine.
The district’s substitute teacher pool has shrunk dramatically during the pandemic, making it difficult for schools to hire substitutes for absences both quarantine- and non quarantine-related.
Bruder said previously that the district’s substitute contractor, ESS, has 356 substitutes available this year compared to 480 at this time last year. When substitutes are unavailable, school and district staff cover classrooms, Rodriguez said.
At the board’s meeting Jan. 19, Rodriguez announced a new mental health initiative for staff called #YouMatterBCSD.
The district partnered with Bluffton-based Hope Performance Systems to offer free in-person or virtual peer group sessions to staff members for grief groups, eating disorders, substance abuse, trauma stress, anger management and parenting skills.
Additionally, district employees can access individual counseling or integrated services — from physical therapy and gym memberships to marriage or family counseling — using their health insurance or a discounted cash rate.
An on-site counselor will be stationed at the district office in Burton to provide counseling services, interventions and support. Staff can go to the district office or any Hope Performance Systems clinic sites for services.
“Our goal is to make the Beaufort County School District the best place to work in South Carolina,” district human resources head Alice Walton said in a Monday press release. “Healthy, happy and productive district employees will help us support healthy, happy and productive students and their families.”