Mid-Prairie extends retention pay to 150-plus staff

WELLMAN — the Mid-Prairie school board voted unanimously last week to extend $1,000 one-time retention bonuses to district staff ineligible for the same payment from the state that worked at least half-time.

“The governor’s proposal gave $1,000 to each full-time teacher, and it restricted the types of teachers that could receive those payments,” Superintendent Mark Schneider said. “I asked (Business Manager) Jeff (Swartzentruber) to do some calculating of what it would cost to give every employee $1,000. This is extending it to every Mid-Prairie employee.”

Schneider said similar decisions were not uncommon across the state.

“There’s a lot of districts that are doing something,” he said. “There are a few that are extending it to all employees.”

Swartzentruber said the move would cost around $165,000 and cover over 150 employees, with the extra cash needed for employer Social Security obligations.

“The governor didn’t take into consideration the fact that by not including all staff, the incentive in retention component that she wanted to have was not going to happen,” he said. “Because not everybody was included, rather than create angst within the district, the board, based on the recommendation from the administration, just said, ‘Hey, lets use ESSER money to cover as many people as we can.’”

That money will likely come from Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, federal money made available to schools starting in 2020.

“We could pay for this out of ESSER funds, it would probably mean that we’d have to transfer some HVAC projects that we would pay out of ESSER,” Schneider said. “This is a one-time expense, it would not hurt the general fund, it would save the unspent balance.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com