Little Rock district’s summer school teachers will get higher pay for this year only, board supports

One-time raises would use covid aid funds

Alma Mireles, a fourth-grade teacher in the Little Rock School District, begins passing out books as her students Amaya Jemison (center) and Mariah Stewart wait to get their copies at Booker Arts Magnet Elementary School in this Jan. 28, 2021 file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
Alma Mireles, a fourth-grade teacher in the Little Rock School District, begins passing out books as her students Amaya Jemison (center) and Mariah Stewart wait to get their copies at Booker Arts Magnet Elementary School in this Jan. 28, 2021 file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)


Principals, teachers and other staff in the Little Rock School District's summer school programs are on track to see one-time higher rates of pay this year.

The Little Rock School Board board voted 7-2 on Thursday in support of a plan on new rates of pay for substitute employees, as well as for summer school, after-school and hourly workers -- with summer workers this year receiving greater rates than those working during the regular school year.

The plan -- suggested by board member Ali Noland -- calls for the higher summer pay rates as a way to enhance summer school opportunities for students who have learning deficits due to the covid-19 pandemic. The plan calls for the district to use federal covid-19 relief money to afford the higher pay rates without restricting student enrollment or shortening the programs.

The summer pay rates would drop to lower rates -- but still higher than current rates -- effective on the first day of the 2022-23 school year.

The supplemental pay proposal is now subject to a 10-day review by the district's personnel policies committees after which it will return to the board for changes and/or a final vote.

According to the plan, summer school principals would be paid $55 an hour, up from $28, and summer school teachers would be paid $45 an hour, up from $25 an hour. Custodians would be paid $21 an hour, up from $12. Classroom aides would be paid $17 an hour, up from the current $11.

But in the summer of 2023 and into the future, principals would be paid $40 an hour and the teachers $35, according to the plan.

The proposed plan also provides an increase in pay for a substitute teacher with a high school diploma, from $85 a day to $88. A substitute teacher who has a state teacher's license would see an increase from the current $95 a day to $108. The licensed substitute would be paid $135 a day if the person remains in the same position for more than 20 consecutive days.

"We're in a desperate situation," School Board member Jeff Wood said about low literacy achievement among district students.

He said that as a result he was compelled to use $45 an hour pay rates to recruit teachers for a high quality summer program.

OTHER BUSINESS

The board acted on the supplemental pay plan at a five-hour meeting in which it also:

• Reauthorized the district's paid covid-19 leave policy, retroactive to April 14 when it expired and going through the end of the school year. The policy applies to those required to isolate or care for a family member because of covid.

• Delayed action on a staff plan to declare three parcels of district property surplus and available for sale. Board members sought the delay until the district presents a proposal for solar energy, which could potentially incorporate the use of the properties for installation of solar panels. The properties include the now closed Dodd Elementary School, six lots on Apperson Street and a small plot across the street from J.A. Fair K-8 Academy.

• Authorized district staff in a 5-3 vote to enter into a revised payment agreement with Community Health Centers of Arkansas, which owes the district $155,700 on its original $895,000 purchase of the vacant Franklin Elementary School. The board agreed to forgive $53,700 in late fees if the organization will pay the remaining $102,000 by the end of 2022.


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