New Braunfels ISD taps unused funds for employee bonuses

Christmas is coming early for employees at New Braunfels Independent School District as it looks to keep staffed up.

Full-time staff members will get a one-time $1,500 supplemental payment next month. Part-timers will get $750. All New Braunfels employees who were hired as of Oct. 1 will be eligible to receive the payments, which aim to retain staff.

Like districts across the state, New Braunfels ISD is experiencing a teacher shortage and higher turnover rate thanks to COVID, said Rebecca Villarreal, the district’s executive director of communications.

The fall incentive comes out of unspent general funds from the previous fiscal year, Villarreal said. Giving incentive payments to all staff members will cost about $1.65 million.

Had they not gone into the bonuses, the money would have gone into the district’s fund balance, Villarreal said.

She said a similar package was approved about this time last year, but last year’s fall retention incentive was covered by federal grant funds Congress approved in response to the pandemic.

“While striving to be good fiscal stewards of taxpayer funds, New Braunfels ISD will continue to evaluate on an ongoing basis for future opportunities to support the dedicated staff that serve the students in the district,” Villarreal said in an email.

The school board approved the bonuses last week. The money will go out to staff Dec. 6.

The fall incentive checks are not the only way New Braunfels

ISD employees can get some extra cash this holiday season. Last month, the district launched an incentivized professional development program that lets staff members earn $1,000 per year for the next three years if they complete certain training centered on curriculum and technology.