The White County School Board addressed confusion Thursday night over bonuses tied to the state’s School Voucher Program.
The school board approved a $500 bonus back in May for employees who did not meet the state’s requirements for the $2,000 bonus as part of the Education Freedom Act. Several board members said some employees have questioned the board as to why they did not receive the $2,000 bonus. Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger apologized for any miscommunication; however, he also said the school district is not to blame.
“We had teachers that don’t want it at all, because we think we are being bribed,” Dronebarger said. “And then we had other people that said, ‘I want it, and now my feelings are hurt because I didn’t get it’. It was bad all the way around, and it was, and that is something that, although I’m sympathetic to, it needs to be directed towards your legislator and the Tennessee Department of Education.”
Though school counselors were listed to receive the bonus, the board concluded that counselors did not receive the bonus because the state did not deem them to be in a classroom setting. School Board Member Sherri Stone said she does not blame employees for being confused, as she believes the state’s requirements were unclear.
“I would have read from this, and when it said counselors, I would have assumed I would have gotten it too,” Stone said. “And so I can see where the confusion was because it states on this thing, school counselors. But they are saying that you are not in a classroom setting, which is very vague. And I think that the government in this case has done a very disservice to our teachers.”
Several board members and Dronebarger expressed opinions that they believe non-teachers should not have been excluded from the state’s bonus. The board asked if Dronebarger could get numbers to see what it would cost the school district to give a $1,500 bonus to those who were excluded. Dronebarger said he could get the numbers for those who were excluded who have a teacher’s license, but warned the school board about making exceptions.
“If I’m a hard-working educational assistant, I’m gonna think well, I work hard to, and now I’m excluded, and you made an exception for all of those people,” Dronebarger said. “It puts the board in a really bad position to spend a lot of money that you didn’t budget to spend. And not that they are not worthy, I’m just saying that’s the slope that you get on.”
School Board Member John Smith said one of the phone calls he had received from an employee was about a problem with the school board’s communication throughout the bonus process. Smith said if the state does a similar bonus again, the board has to be better at communicating.
In other business, the school board approved a survey for a portion of the property at BonDeCroft Elementary. The portion of the property that was surveyed is where the Bon DeCroft Volunteer Fire Department is located.
The Fire Department had requested a deed to the property so they could apply for grants to improve the fire station. School Board Chairman Bob Young said the survey will now go to the county planning commission for review before coming back to the school board for a final vote.
Callie O’Dell will serve as the Junior School Board Representative for this school year.
The board briefly discussed snow day pay for staff. The discussion revolved around changing the process so that employees who would not get paid for snow days would work 15 extra minutes a day and receive pay at the beginning of the school year, rather than waiting till later in the year to make up the time. No action was up for consideration, and Dronebarger said the topic is something the board should consider when budget season comes back around.
