Governor Kim Reynolds has modified her teacher retention bonuses paid for by federal COVID relief funds to be eligible not only to teachers who taught 100% in person during the pandemic, but it still causes a rift between district staff, according to Washington Community Schools Superintendent Willie Stone.

Governor Reynolds announced on January 11th that each full-time prekindergarten through 12th grade in-person teacher who “stayed on the job” through the pandemic and continues teaching to the end of this school year would receive a $1,000 payment. These bonuses are being paid by state and federal funds including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP ESSER). The Iowa Department of Education changed the eligibility requirements Tuesday now allowing those who taught some classes online, but still excluding staff such as cooks, custodians, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, instructional coaches, behavior interventionists, administrators, and school nurses.

Stone shared a letter with the school board Wednesday that was sent to Governor Reynolds, “We work extremely hard, our administration, our staff works extremely hard at creating a culture of acceptance and use, and equal use within the buildings and this has done nothing but tear that apart, to be very blunt.”

Stone shared that it would cost them $200,000 to give retention bonuses to those excluded, and remarked that the funds should have been put into Supplemental State Aid which then goes towards teachers’ salaries and gains a dollar amount worth about five times as much over 20 years through the Iowa Public Employee Retirement System. Board Member Troy Suchan questioned state legislators’ lack of oversight into Reynolds’ handling of COVID funds, “Why would this be passed? I know it’s the governor but the legislators, why is this being done to us again? And if one of them would call me again we could have an awesome conversation again as to this BS that they keep throwing around making lives miserable for everybody because they don’t want to do their job.”

The board approved a motion to move forward with the retention payments for all those who qualify, in case the eligibility is modified further by the state. Business Manager Jeff Dieleman commented that they don’t have a choice either way. Stone’s letter below:

Good morning,

School districts have worked extremely hard to create a culture where everyone feels valued. The teacher retention payment is great for our staff that qualify, but you are (I believe) unintentionally telling everyone else they aren’t as important. In reality, everyone in our school district worked through the pandemic. Our cooks started serving meals the second week of the pandemic and didn’t stop. Our paraprofessionals have stepped up to the plate with students who came back from the pandemic with significant needs. Our custodians have gone above and beyond with our new cleaning regimens. Our bus drivers have been rock solid for us all the way through. Counselors, Instructional Coaches, and Behavior interventionists have been working non-stop also since the pandemic. Our Administrators have spent countless hours ensuring our students and staff have a safe, nurturing, educational setting to come to daily. I understand the theory behind what you are trying to do, but it has only caused issues for districts. We were under contract for HVAC systems, and the rest of our ESSER III dollars have been used for teacher retention since we lost 80 students during the pandemic. This all happened before Governor Reynolds announced the $1000.00 retention plan. I know some districts may cover the cost for the rest of the staff. Unfortunately, we are not at the point where we can do that financially, especially with the low 2.5 percent SSA. I ask that you use more of the ESSER funds and recognize the hard work of everyone through this pandemic.

Willie Stone