Nacogdoches ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved during Tuesday’s agenda review meeting employment and retention stipends and incentives for the upcoming school year.
The district will offer $2,000 sign-on bonuses for new teachers to NISD, and $1,000 incentives for existing staff who refer new teachers hired by the district.
“School districts across the nation are struggling to fill vacancies, and this is one way we’re attempting to attract new hires to the district,” said NISD Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo.
The district will again provide $2,400 retention incentives to all full-time staff who remain with the district for the new fiscal year that begins July 1. Part-time staff returning for the 2022-23 fiscal year will receive $1,200. The retention incentives will be divided into two payments: the first in November and the second in June 2023. NISD offered a similar incentive a year ago.
“Attracting new teachers and staff is important, but so is retaining the excellent team we’ve already got in place,” Trujillo said. “We’re grateful for the outstanding staff we will have back for the 2022-23 academic year.”
The incentives and stipends come on top of a 2 percent compensation increase approved by NISD trustees last month for all employees for the fiscal year that gets underway July 1.
NISD is also offering attendance incentives for the upcoming year. Any eligible employee with perfect attendance during a semester will receive $250. An eligible employee with perfect attendance for both semesters would receive $250 per semester as well as an additional $250, for a total of $750 for absence-free attendance for the entire school year. (Absences related to student activity and out-of-district and in-district approved leave do not count against receiving the stipend.)
The attendance and referral incentives are targeted towards teachers and other non-administration staff. Principals, assistant principals, coordinators, directors, executive directors and chiefs are not eligible for the attendance incentive or the teacher referral incentive.