Goosby pushes for bonuses for school system employees

District 3 Grady County Board of Education member Gerald Goosby made a pitch Tuesday night for the school board to appropriate some one-time bonuses for all school system employees to “show the staff we do appreciate the work they’ve done over the last year.”

Goosby said the subject was a matter that has been “on my heart” and he hoped that the effort could boost “teacher morale.”

“Our employees have made a lot of sacrifices and have gone the extra mile,” Goosby said. The District 3 board member said his recommendation would be to include all employees of the system in the payment of bonuses.

“We’ve spoken about this previously, and I want to make sure that everyone knows what I have told you,” Superintendent Dr. Kermit Gilliard said in responding to Goosby’s recommendation.

Dr. Gilliard said that Governor Brian Kemp had already announced plans to pay school system personnel, with the exception of central office personnel, a one-time $1,000 bonus from the state. Rather than the local system paying a one-time bonus, Dr. Gilliard said his recommendation would be to increase local supplements by $500 and to increase the payscale for non-certified personnel.

“What I would prefer is something that is permanent, and on-going instead of a one-time payment,” Dr. Gilliard said.

Finance officer Dan Broome concurred with the superintendent and said that one of the challenges the board faces in recruiting and retaining quality personnel for non-certified staff is the hourly rates paid to those on the lower end of the payscale. Broome said that increasing the starting hourly rate would improve the system’s competitiveness in a more effective way than a one-time bonus.

District 4 board member Teresa Gee Hardy agreed with Dr. Gilliard and Broome and said of a one-time bonus, “you get it one time and it’s gone and we’re back to square one.”

Board Chairman Derrick Majors suggested the board look at all options. Broome suggested that with budget workshops to be held  in the coming months further discussion of the subject could be conducted.

Goosby said he was thankful the discussions were being had and he suggested the staff would appreciate it, as well.

In other business Tuesday night, the board:

•Approved the purchase and installation of 52 Viewsonic 75-inch Interactive Flat Panels to be installed in local classrooms. The board voted to accept the bid of $203,535.34 from S&L Integrated for the purchase and installation of the new equipment and removal of the old equipment. The new equipment is being purchased with federal Title I funding.

•Accepted the bid of $16,008.44 from MTC for cabling and equipment switches and installation.

•Accepted the bid of $147,749.18 from MTC for installation of additional wireless access points within the school system.

•Approved the expenditure of Title IV funds as well as federal pandemic relief funding to pay $162,000 for Capturing Kids Heart Training for local school system personnel.

•Approved the low bid of $1,100,275.00 from Dell for the purchase of 2,500 laptop computers to replace older model laptops throughout the system. In related action, the board also accepted the bid of $21,425 from Howard Technologies to perform the software installation on the 2,500 new laptops. All of these expenditures will be paid with federal CARES Act money.