BENTONVILLE — Proposed cuts to the School District’s budget include slicing in half the bonuses paid to National Board certified teachers, a suggestion that has drawn significant opposition.

Tina Hoisington, an Old High Middle School literacy teacher who earned board certification in 2008, called the proposed cut “unjust, unwise and counterproductive” during time allotted for public comment at Tuesday’s School Board meeting.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, formed in 1987, aims to advance the quality of teaching and learning by developing professional standards for accomplished teaching, according to its website. Teachers go through a rigorous process to obtain certifi cation.

“It’s very hard to get it,” said Galen Havner, director of human resources. “And not everyone who goes through the process is successful.”

The Bentonville School District has 113 National Board certified teachers. Those teachers receive $5,000 from the state for eight years, but the Bentonville School District pays them an additional $3,000 for 10 years.

A committee met during the fall to devise proposals for trimming the district’s budget. One idea forwarded to the School Board was to cut the bonus the district pays to $1,500 per year. It’s estimated the cut could save $150,000 per year.

Havner was part of the budget committee, but not the subcommittee that suggested the idea.

“We were told by that group that even at $1,500, we would be a little ahead of what other districts pay,” he said.

Hoisington was one of about a dozen teachers who attended Tuesday’s board meeting in anticipation of the discussion of those cuts, but the board decided to postpone that discussion until next month.

“I believe that the teachers who seek certification are some of the most dedicated staff members we have,” Hoisington said Wednesday. “The NB certifi cation is one of the few ways teachers can advance financially and remain in the classroom teaching.”

An online petition against the proposal drew 116 signatures as of Wednesday. Both certified and non-certified teachers have signed it, Hoisington said.

Many of those who signed it added comments. Tim Treese, a Bentonville High School teacher, wrote he spent a huge amount of time during a three-year period to achieve certifi cation.

“I feel that I greatly increased my eff ectiveness as a teacher as a result,” Treese wrote. “I would feel terribly cheated if that compensation was cut in half.”

Many who signed the petition suggested National Board certified teachers be “grandfathered in” under the current bonus system.

Michael Poore, district superintendent, said that’s something the administration is strongly considering.

Hoisington agreed that would be a good solution, but said she’d look at other areas for cuts instead.

“There are many years where there are no raises except a step on the salary schedule,” she said. “Many times even raises are not more than the rise in insurance premiums.”