The Mid-Prairie School Board approved distributing one-time payments of $1,000 to their entire staff, following Governor Kim Reynolds’ announcement of using ARPA funds to reimburse these payments for teachers and select other staff. 

Governor Reynolds originally announced in January that these bonuses would only go to teachers who taught full-time in person during the pandemic, but has since expanded eligibility to those who taught some classes online. However, employees such as nurses, counselors, librarians, bus drivers, custodians, and cooks are still excluded. The Mid-Prairie School Board approved a $1,000 one-time retention payment for all district employees who work at least half time or more, including summer coaches under contract. The district will use Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER III) initially allocated for school projects to fund the bonuses for the excluded staff, which will be paid on the April 25th payroll. Projects that were to be paid for with funds originally earmarked from ESSER III will be shifted to be paid for by SAVE or PPEL funds instead.  

A $5,000 sign-on bonus was also extended by the board for 17 positions deemed hard to fill by the Iowa Department of Education. Examples of those positions include those who instruct students with disabilities such as the hearing or visually impaired, industrial technology, family and consumer sciences, foreign language, agriculture, science, business, counselors, mathematics, librarians, social studies and early childhood education. This policy was first implemented by the board in June of 2021. The bonus is paid out in two, $2,500 installments, with the second only paid if the individual is still employed by the district.