Fayetteville School District Employees To Get Bonus

— School District employees will receive a bigger paycheck next month.

School Board members voted Thursday to approve a one-time 2.5 percent bonus for contracted employees, based on their salary.

The bonuses are being paid for through the Education Jobs Fund Program, a federal program providing $10 billion to states. The program seeks to save and create education jobs.

Greg Mones, district director of human resources, said the bonuses will be distributed March 18.

“The Jobs Fund is supplying the district with $1,648,267,” he said. “If we provide the bonus to all employees, it will cost a total of $1,730,000, meaning the district would pick up the $87,700 difference.”

At A Glance

High School Construction Update

• Southwest building pad construction is near completion.

• Rock excavation continues.

• Southeast quad concrete foundation work continues.

• Underground detention structure is near completion.

• Shoring structure is in place.

Source: Jared Brown, Nabholz Construction

Mones said the bonus would mean an extra $1,032 for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and no experience.

A teacher with a master’s degree and 15 years experience, he said, would pocket $1,406.

“It’s definitely nice to have some extra money, especially around this time of year,” said Tamera Shreve, a science teacher at Ramay Junior High School.

Also Thursday, the board approved an application for $33.6 million in no-interest bonds for school construction.

Fayetteville’s allocation of the construction bond would help pay for construction work at Fayetteville High School.

Dennis Hunt, the district’s fiscal agent, said the district will likely receive substantially less than it’s applying for because of the number of districts applying for the money.

“We should get notification in late March in terms of what the amount is and then it will come before the board again for final approval,” he said.

The district has issued more than $83 million in low- and no-interest bonds as part of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Of the $83 million granted to Fayetteville, the district has used about $7 million for construction of the new Happy Hollow Elementary School. The remainder is dedicated to the high school’s $95 million construction project.

Residents in September voted on a 2.75 mill tax increase to pay for an issue of interest-free bonds amounting to $31 million for the second phase of the high school transformation. The money for the second phase is the $19 million in second-lien funds.

The interest-free bonds stem from leftover school construction bonds, but won’t change the district’s tax rate charged to district property owners.

The planned traditional bonds are expected to have a 30-year payoff, while the interest-free bonds would have a shorter payoff, between 15 and 19 years.

In other business, the board approved a contract with Hight Jackson for moving the high school’s tennis courts to the softball field at Asbell Elementary School. Eight tennis courts will be built, allowing the district to host state tournaments. Construction will start after June 3 and should be complete before the start of next school year.

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