Dallas ISD Implements Employee Retention Incentive For 'Highly Qualified Staff'
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Dallas ISD is implementing a retention incentive that could amount to as much as $3,500 for the year, for all eligible staff for the 2022-2023 school year as it continues to recover from the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a news release, the district said "the safety, well-being and retention of the district's highly qualified staff is a priority."
"In a competitive market, this retention incentive will not only help us keep the outstanding staff who have been working tirelessly for our students this year but will also give us an advantage in recruiting staff to fill existing vacancies in our campuses and departments," said Robert Abel, acting chief of Human Capital Management. "We know everyone from teachers to maintenance and bus drivers have been giving it their all to help create a learning environment in which our students can be successful, and we wanted to recognize their efforts and tell them they are valued."
"I don't think any educators have worked more, given more, gone above and beyond than our teachers and employees," Alliance AFT President Rena Honea said.
Honea said this year presented new challenges. Despite a district wide mask mandate, COVID-19 cases were still occurring.
"They ran into the problem of not having enough substitutes so some of the teachers had to have additional students in their classrooms, which added to the load and there was no additional compensation for that," she said.
She said the retention incentive comes as welcome news.
DISD staff who return next school year will be eligible to receive anywhere from $500 - $3,500 for the year. Exactly how much they receive will mostly be based on performance.
The incentive would be included in employees' paychecks in three installments.
The first installment—$500— would be paid in September to welcome staff back to the new school year.
The rest of the retention incentive would be included in the December and May paychecks.
The district will fund this with federal dollars meant to support schools though the pandemic.
