Stamford Board Of Ed. Endorses Bonuses For School Employees

STAMFORD, CT — During a special meeting on Tuesday, the Stamford Board of Education unanimously voted 9-0 to support giving bonuses to district employees using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Dr. Tamu Lucero said each bonus would come out to $500, but the final amount will be decided by her administration. The state must also give approval.

During the meeting, Lucero said it was "high time" to acknowledge all the work employees have done during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They went above and beyond the call of duty with a day's notice in March of 2020 to make it work for our families and our students," she said. "I believe that this at least is an acknowledgement of all the work they did during this time period to keep our kids in pace with what they needed as they were in remote, in a hybrid model, back in school. I just think across the board, our staff did an amazing job and I think we should acknowledge that."

The district received $32 million as part of ARPA. Lucero said issuing $500 bonuses would come out to a total of $1.2 million. She said $10 million is set aside for capital expenses.

Every school employee would be eligible for the bonus, except Lucero, who said she won't be taking it.

There are some employees who work for the city who have already received some sort of COVID-19 stipend, Lucero said. A determination will be made for each employee as to whether they would receive the extra money, she explained. "We'd consider that, because we want to make sure everyone gets about the same amount of money."

Board member Fritz Cherry asked if the bonus could be $1,000, which would bring the cost to $2.4 million.

"We would need to look a little closer at where we could reallocate funds. We know that $500 is a place we feel comfortable with right now," Lucero said.

Board member Becky Hamman said she was concerned that by putting money towards bonuses, not enough attention would be put towards programs related to learning.

Board President Jackie Heftman said ARPA funds are going towards improving student achievement, like the hiring of different specialists.

"We're not doing this at the expense of something else. I don't believe the superintendent would think about doing that," Heftman said.

After some debate which took about 20 minutes, and the unanimous vote, Lucero thanked the Board for its support.

"I am so pleased that this was a unanimous vote. I think it sends a message to our school community how we appreciate them, and I really appreciate your willingness to consider this," Lucero said. "We will figure out where we will make adjustments and get back to you."

Heftman said she hopes the message sent by the Board can have an impact elsewhere around the state.

"Hopefully when the rest of the state sees what Stamford is doing to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts that our employees made, they will decide to do the same. But that is up to them. We can only act for ourselves," she said.