Staff at Owensboro Public Schools will be getting $2,000 in supplemental pay spread out over two payments this year. OPS is also implementing a referral bonus program for employees who help bring in substitute workers, along with offering stipends for subs who take on extra work.
The OPS Board of Education unanimously approved the decisions Thursday during a luncheon held at Sutton Elementary School.
OPS Superintendent Matthew Constant said the district is allowed to use ESSER funds to supplement pay for employees, saying the move is being done to recognize the additional work that everyone has been asked to do.
The first $1,000 payment will come at the first of November, with the second coming at the first of May 2021.
“Throughout the phases of this pandemic, we’ve all been called on to do lots of extra things,” Constant said. “Our staff continues to step up and do whatever is necessary to keep kids in school. Some examples of these extras include additional training, additional supervision, monitoring masks and distancing, preparing work for quarantine students, delivering instruction for live and quarantine students, covering class time for staff under quarantine, and administration of federal and state programs.”
All staff are eligible for the supplemental pay, with the exception of substitutes. However, new incentives were approved Thursday for subs.
OPS Personnel Director Carlie Brown said the district needs subs the most on Mondays and Fridays.
After the board’s approval, subs who work two Mondays or Fridays in one pay period will now get an additional $35 stipend for those days. If a sub accepts an assignment for 10 consecutive days, they will receive an additional $35 per day for accepting a continuous assignment.
Brown said that isn’t limited to subs for teachers, so it would include subs for positions such as instructional assistants and bus monitors.
Additionally, the board approved the implementation of a referral program that could pay out up to $250 each for the employee making the recommendation and the new sub.
Brown said if the sub works one day, the current OPS employee would get $125. Once that applicant works 90 days, the OPS employee would get an additional $125. The applicant would also receive $250 after working 90 days.
“Our current employees know people looking for jobs,” Brown said. “If they have a relationship with that person we want to encourage them to ask them to apply for a classified or sub position with OPS.”
