The Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a $500 employee retention stipend for all full-time and permanent part-time employees during a special-called board meeting on Thursday.
The district will distribute the payment on Dec. 17 for all full-time and permanent part-time employees who were employed on Dec. 1 and remained employed on Dec. 17, district officials said during the meeting.
Funds for the bonus come from ESSER III relief funds paid to school districts for relief from the COVID 19 pandemic. BISD has made two payments of $600 each to employees, one in June and one in August for a total of $1,700 when the $500 stipend is paid. A total of $3,200 per employee was available to BISD for such payments and the district is reserving money for future employee retention payments, Superintendent Rene Gutierrez said.
Last year BISD paid a Christmas bonus of $400, officials said.
Advocates for BISD’s three employee associations advocated for a larger employee bonus.
Gutierrez excluded himself from receiving the bonus and praised BISD’s more than 6,000 employees.
“This stipend is being made for the public educational purpose of working during some very difficult and trying times of a national pandemic and to further incentivize and retain employees at the district,” Gutierrez said. “The funds for these compensation payments will come from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) funds.”
In another matter, the board received the district’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the year ended June 30, 2021.
Auditor Carlos Cascos of Cascos and Associates reported BISD is in a “very healthy position” financially with 84 days of operating expenses in reserve. He said the district received a “clean” financial audit.
The district’s fund balance totals $204 million, of which $106 million is unrestricted.
