The White County School Board approved the final distribution of a $1 million high-performance reward during its meeting Thursday to recognize the district’s academic achievements.
Director of Schools Kurt Dronebarger said the funding stems from a state-level bonus program that rewards school systems where at least 50 percent of individual schools earn an “A” on their state report card. Dronebarger said White County qualified for the top tier of the reward after 75 percent of its schools reached the milestone.
“Only 22 of 147 districts in Tennessee got that award,” Drommbarger said. “I can’t disclose who the other 21 were but I can tell you we were one of two in the Upper Cumberland and the rest of the list read like a who’s who of school districts across Tennessee, and I’m really proud that White County’s one of those whos.”
School Board Chair Bob Young said the district recently received an additional $392,000 from the state to bring the total reward to the full $1 million mark. Young said the board previously established a formula to divide the performance funds into three equal parts.
“It’s a really big deal,” Dronebarger said. “So, just really proud of the effort of our faculty staff, students and whole school community for that award, that recognition, and certainly the monetary award.”
Young said the approved allocation plan designates one-third of the money for bonuses for full-time staff members. Young said another third will be distributed to individual schools for student-focused discretionary spending, while the final third is reserved for district-wide needs.
“We look forward to awarding these bonus funds to our staff and our students and our schools and look forward to the creative ways that they will spend those dollars,” Dronebarger said. “White County Schools prides itself in being a great in teacher support and we look forward to helping our newest employees get off to a great start.”
Young said the staff portion of the reward will result in a net bonus of approximately $560 for each full-time employee. Young said the school-level portion equates to roughly $91 per student for the various campuses to utilize.
“The bonuses as we talked about paying out to full-time staff had not been paid yet,” Dronebarger said.
