Board approves bonuses for PW’s certified workers
Bridges resigns from board position
Teachers, administrators and testing coordinators in the Palestine-Wheatley School District will be receiving a $1,000 bonus.
Members of the PalestineWheatley School Board approved the bonuses during their monthly meeting held Monday.
The board also adopted new policies, heard an update from district superintendent Jon Estes regarding the new football field, heard an update on the Covid-19 virus situation in the district and accepted the resignation of board member Shannon Bridges.
Estes told board members that some teachers in the district do not receive bonuses through funds awarded by the state.
"I was going to try to use some of our Covid money to give teachers bonuses this year,” said Estes. “At the end of each school year, most teachers get bonuses that come through us from the state. I am recommending a $1,000 bonus to each of our classified teachers."
Board members unanimously approved the recommendation.
"This is in five different steps," Estes explained. "I make a recommendation to approve the retention bonuses. The retention bonuses come from money directly from the state for the soul purpose of retaining teachers in our district. We do have to pay the benefits for these teachers, but we pay it with our ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) funds so it costs the district nothing. We do have some people who do not qualify for retention bonuses, however, so we have to pay their bonuses out of pocket. There are seven people on this list, and I make the recommendation to give a $1,000 bonus to our emergency and preschool teachers, building level administrators and our district test coordinators."
Estes also told board members that member Shannon Bridges has resigned from the board, effective immediately.
"She has served this school district well and has done a good job. I appreciate you very, very much and thank you for your help,” said Estes.
According to Estes, since the school dropped all mask mandates, no cases of the Covid19 virus had shown up in the district.
"Since our last special called board meeting where we decided to no longer require masks, we have had zero cases of Covid-19 in the district,” said Estes. "We had prom on Saturday night with no issues and we plan to have senior night on Wednesday night. Graduation will be May 4, in the new gym at 7 p.m. I do not know anything about tickets at this time."
Estes said work on the new football field is moving quickly, as they are trying to get it ready for games this fall.
(Continued from Page 1) "Turf may be down on the football field by the end of the week, as they are trying to get everything ready for football season," said Estes. "I was in contact with the state department of facilities today about our application that we submitted to get approval to be able to build a concession stand but it still has not been approved. They are waiting on the Department of Health to approve it so we can move forward."
According to Estes, there are nine new policies that have been set forth by the Arkansas School Boards Association, but they need to be done in steps.
"Last month I presented you all with board policies from the Arkansas School Boards Association for the first reading," said Estes. "I recommend that we adopt those policies. I am also presenting to you section four of the policies. It is just a lot to get through at one time. This is just the first reading tonight of section four of the new policies."
The board unanimously accepted the recommendation from Estes and adopted the first three of nine new policies.
Following the acceptance of the current financial statement of the school district, board president Derrick Boileau commended Estes on his work regarding the district’s financial stability.
"I would just like to say good job, Jon," said Boileau. "The beginning balance was $6.1 million and the ending balance was $7.3 million. Where I went to school, that makes about a $1.2 to $1.3 million difference. From the beginning to the end of the month. Good job."