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Here’s how much money CMS employees will get in retention bonuses

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools approved retention bonuses for full-time and part-time employees on Wednesday night.

“I know that a large number of them are tired,” Superintendent Earnest Winston said. “Some of them are experiencing both physical and mental exhaustion. But through it all, they remain committed to our students.”

Full-time employees will get $2,500 and part-time workers will get $1,250. The bonuses will be released in two installments. The first in December and the second in September.

To fund the bonuses, CMS is using $48 million from COVID-19 relief funds.

“We ask so much of our employees just in a normal year,” said Board Chair Elyse Dashew in a news release. “But the past two years have been extraordinarily difficult ones for educators. We are thankful that our employees continue to show up in the service of children. All the money in the world could not adequately express our gratitude but we hope this bonus sends employees the message that we do see and appreciate their hard work.”

The bonuses are unrelated to the state-approved bonuses announced in the recently approved state budget, which are scheduled to be paid in January 2022, the district said in a news release. The CMS employee retention program is budgeted at approximately $48 million in American Rescue Plan Act-ESSER III funds.

To be eligible for the full incentive, employees must have started working at CMS on or before Oct. 31, 2021, and remain continuously employed through September 2022. The bus driver retention incentive offered earlier this year will be replaced with this new incentive program.

“This year has presented significant challenges for all of us,” said Winston. “I am delighted to offer this to support our employees whose dedication is at the core of our mission and whose commitment to providing an innovative, inclusive environment is critical to student success.”

Winston said that he would decline the incentive package for himself.

“There’s more work to do,” he said.

Substitute teachers and guest teachers are not eligible.

Channel 9 has reported on the difficulties that CMS and other districts have been facing when it comes to staffing their schools. There have been 871 CMS employees who have resigned this year.

The president of the Classroom Teachers Association of North Carolina said more will leave.

“I don’t know where they are going to find the people to meet the students when (students) come back to the classrooms in January,” President Judy Henion said.

Many teachers told Henion they don’t plan on coming back after winter break for a number reasons, including low pay, she said.

“Teachers are full of angst in working in an environment that has lost control,” Henion said. “It’s that increased anxiety. That increased anxiety that’s been created through constant lockdowns, the pandemic, the quarantines, the mask mandate and all of the extra added.”

CMS board member Margaret Marshall said the emergency meeting is a direct response to that.

“I have heard anecdotally, as well, that more resignations are anticipated in the coming year. We are not alone in this trend,” Marshall said in an email.

Henion said teachers want raises and change.

“What we need, and we need it fast, is a change of leadership,” Henion said. “That’s a change at the admin level, change at the school board. We need someone who can bring this entire situation into focus, because there is no one steering the ship.”

Statement from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators:

Like educators across the state, Charlotte educators are increasingly frustrated with the growing number of vacant positions and delay in response from the Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board of Education to address the staffing shortage and retention.

It has been reported that 871 teachers have resigned or retired this school year alone. The vacancy crisis in our district unfairly burdens staff and diminishes student outcomes. We know smaller class sizes and adequate support staff have a positive impact on students and allow for the individualized instruction students need.

CMS has the same opportunity neighboring school districts such as Gaston, Mooresville, and Cabarrus, as well as, big-city districts like Winston-Salem/Forsyth and Wake have already exercised — to use its $317 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act emergency education funds to help recruit and retain staff.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Association of Educators supports nothing less than $5,000 retention bonuses for all full-time staff and $2500 for part-time staff. This matches bonuses in comparably sized NC districts.

“I respect the BOE’s vote tonight, to get raises for all CMS staff. However, this is just the beginning. More can be done in retention bonuses, and I will be fighting for this. Join me. Stop telling staff we are appreciated, and start paying us enough to retain our folks. This is not about appreciation, it’s about retention in a competitive job market,” says Rae LeGrone, CMAE Vice President. This will ensure we have dedicated employees in every school building and worksite to support our students’ outcomes.

We are pleased to see CMS follow in the footsteps of other NC counties in offering all of their employees’ retention bonuses. We are dismayed to see that they are offering far less than other large counties in North Carolina.

CMAE looks forward to continuing conversations with district leadership about how remaining federal funds can be used to sufficiently address our ongoing staffing crisis.

(WATCH BELOW: 9 Investigates: NC ranks low for teacher pay)