The Edinburg school board OK’d $1.35 million in stipend increases for two groups of employees last week, saying those increases will insure those employees are being paid fairly.
Both of those increases will be funded through federal ESSER funds.
The first of them — with a $1.1 million price tag — gives teachers involved with UIL clubs and organizations a monetary bump.
“When they do the math, they’re getting paid slightly under $21 an hour,” Superintendent Mario Salinas said at a meeting Wednesday, Dec. 14. “Where we have teachers doing tutoring getting paid $30. So there’s some inequity there, so we wanted to equalize that.”
Salinas said stipends for those employees will be increased from $2,000 to $3,000 annually.
“That equates to about $30 an hour. I think that’s probably — that’s not probably, it is more fair,” he said.
The other stipend increase approved by the board affects teachers who work at rural schools; namely Avila, Guerra, Hargill, Magee and Brewster elementaries, along with Harwell Middle School.
“They’re out there,” Salinas said. “They drive in excess of 10, 15 miles one way. Guerra (Elementary) is not as close as you think. You’ve gotta drive north past Guerra for about three miles before you make a U-turn to get to Guerra.”
For about 10 years, Salinas said, teachers at those schools have been paid a $1,000 annual stipend, at least in part as an employee retention tool.
The action taken by the board Wednesday will double that stipend beginning next semester.
“As we all know, gas has increased in price,” Salinas said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated for clarity.
