School extends stipends and bonuses

— Pea Ridge school employees - both certified and classified - will receive additional bonuses and stipends thanks to federal money and local funds, after School Board members approved the recommendation by school superintendent Mike Van Dyke at Monday’s regular meeting.

“Basically, we had a growthplan and teachers worked as teams to show things they wanted to do to improve students’ performances,” Van Dyke told the board. “Not all the districts attached an accountability plan to the money, but I’d like to continue our accountability piece to ours.”

Van Dyke said the majority of the money for the bonuses and stipends was from the stabilization funds from teh American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but some would also be funded using the JOBS money for a one-time, nonrenewable stipend to thoseemployees who wished to participate. In order to be eligible for the money, the employee was required to write a plan, have the plan approved, have their progress monitored and give a narrative/evallaution of the plan.

Van Dyke said some of the bonuses were being called stipends because “a lot of our staff thought if you asked them to do something for it, it wasn’t a bonus, so we called it a stipend.”

For the one-year nonrenewable growth plan stipend, two administratorsreceived $2,000 each, four principals received $1,500, 104 certified staff received $1,000, 73 full-time classified staff received $500 and 20 part-time staff received $250.

For the retention bonus, 94 certified staff received $500, six administrators received $750, 10 certified staff members received $500. Including benefits, the total cost of the bonuses and stipends was $286,666, according to Van Dyke.

In other business, the board:

◊Extended Van Dyke’scontract for a year - until 2013/2014. School Board members met for more than an hour in executive session to discuss personnel.

◊Approved a field trip to Roaring River, Mo., for the first grade. Trip set for Ajpril 22 to “learn characteristics of animals such as body coverings movement and diet...

◊Approved 12-weeek medical leave for Melinda Bowlin under Family Medical Leave Act.

◊Hired Nanci L. Brandt as full-time nurse for the middle school. Brandt a registered nurse.

ONE◊YEAR NON◊RENEWABLE GROWTH PLAN STIPEND:

Administrators 2 @ $2,000.00 each

Principals 4 @ $1,500.00 each

Certified staff 104 @ $1,000.00 each

Total certified bonus cost... $114,000.00

Benefits $26,681.00

Total $140,681.00

Classified -

Full-time 73 @ $500.00 each

Part-time 20 @ $250.00 each

Total bonus cost $41,500.00Benefits $10,500.00 Total cost $52,000.00 Total cost to operating $192,681.00 Retention bonus: Title Il-A - Certified staff 94 @ $500.00 each Benefits $10,177.00 Total cost $57,177.00 Operating fund - Administrators 6@ $750.00 each Certified staff 10 @ $500.00 each Total bonus $9,500.00 Benefits $2,858.00

Total cost certified $11,558.00

Classified staff -

Full-time 73@ $250.00

Part-time 20 @ $125.00

Total bonus $20,750.00

Benefits $4,500.00

Total cost classified $25,250.00

Retention bonus -

Total cost $93,985.00

Growth plan and retention -

Total operating $229,489.90

Title ll-A total $57,177.00

Grand total $286,666.00

News, Pages 1 on 01/12/2011