By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
ASHWAUBENON – After meeting in closed session Wednesday, May 12, the school board approved $1,000 stipends for all of the district’s full-time staff for the 2020-21 school year, with stipends being pro-rated for Ashwaubenon’s part-time employees, said Business Director Keith Lucius.
He said the reason for the stipends, which are being paid to teachers, support staff and administrators, is because of the extra work the district’s employees had to take on during this school year while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lucius said the extra workload included duties such as additional time spent handling remote instruction, mitigating the spread of COVID-19 during in-person instruction and preparing meals.
He said it will cost the district less than $350,000 with Ashwaubenon having the full-time equivalent of around 350 employees.
Lucius said the stipends will mostly be paid for out of the general fund with savings from the district’s health insurance expenditures being below budget, as well as using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant funds.
2021-22 raises
In other action from the closed session, Lucius said the board approved across-the-board pay increases of 2% for all district staff in 2021-22.
He said the pay increases, which total around $340,000, were factored into the preliminary budget the board approved for the next school year.
District staff previously received across-the-board pay increases of 2% for 2020-21.
Noon supervisors
To offer wages for noon-duty supervisors comparable to other districts in the area, Lucius said the board also approved increasing their hourly wage from $11.37 to $14 for 2021-22.
He said the position, which is a challenge for the district to retain workers at the current wage, involves supervising students indoors during lunch and outdoors on the playground.
Lucius said wages for noon-duty substitutes and associates will also increase for the next school year with around an additional $5,000 to $6,000 being budgeted.