HANCOCK COUNTY — Mt. Vernon teachers and staff are getting $750 stipends as a thank-you for the ways they adapted to how the COVID-19 pandemic upended their jobs over the past school year.
School board members unanimously approved the one-time bonuses late last month. At that meeting, Mt. Vernon assistant superintendent Chris Smedley said the teacher stipends are for those who worked at least 120 days during the most recent academic year. The provisions resulted from a memorandum of understanding between the school corporation and Mt. Vernon Classroom Teachers’ Association.
“This MOU relates to issuing a one-time stipend of $750 to any teacher who qualifies for a full year of service during the most recent school year in order to compensate them for the extra duties that were placed upon them caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Smedley said.
Smedley added Mt. Vernon was able to offer the teacher stipends thanks to the latest round of funding the school corporation received from the American Rescue Plan Act for reimbursing certain expenses associated with pandemic-related challenges. Mt. Vernon got $1.5 million from that round. It allowed the district to redirect some costs from its education fund, freeing up money for the teacher stipends.
The school board also approved $750 one-time stipends for classified staff members, or those who do not require certification or licensing, primarily from the corporation’s operations fund.
Smedley told the Daily Reporter that all the stipends amount to a grand total of about $460,000 for the approximately 500 employees who qualify, which includes taxes.
Casey Dodd, principal of Mt. Vernon High School, highlighted some of the ways teachers overcame the COVID-19 pandemic to reach students at the school board meeting.
“What our teachers experienced in the classroom — I cannot begin to really fathom how much I appreciate what they were able to put into it, because they reinvented their jobs day in and day out,” Dodd said.
He referred to high school math teacher Kristin Gray, who used cameras to stream herself and documents online for students at home as she taught in-person students in her classroom.
“So that no matter what, if the kids were sitting in her class, they could see what was going on on the board; or if those kids were sitting in their homes, they were also able to see what was going on in the class and she could communicate with them,” Dodd said.
Dodd added he was in Gray’s classroom several times throughout the school year.
“And every time that I was in there, she was communicating with those kids who were online too, because they were listening to the same thing, and she was able to talk to them and make sure that they were following along with what was going on,” he said. “And if they had questions, she could address those.”
