November 5, 2021
By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
The past couple school years have been unlike any other for everyone involved in public education.
Administrators, teachers and staff throughout Rutherford County Schools — this includes full- and part-time employees in schools and at the Central Office — have all been tasked with additional duties related to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The federal government realized there is a lot more burden falling on the schools,” said Doug Bodary, assistant superintendent for budget and finance with Rutherford County Schools, and they have authorized $1,000 of non-recurring additional pay to be funded with the Federal ESSER III Funds to help compensate for these additional duties.
At the request of Director of Schools Bill Spurlock, the School Board unanimously approved the one-time bonus.
Classified and certified employees who were employed prior to October 1, 2021, and remain employed through December 17, 2021, will qualify for the first bonus payment of $500 in January. Those who are employed between January 2, 2022, and May 27, 2022, will qualify for another $500 bonus payment at the end of the semester.
The School Board already approved a $500 payment for school nutrition employees who and they will receive it in December. They will also be eligible for the $500 during the second semester.
To qualify, employees cannot have a break employment during either of the time periods to receive the bonus payment. New employees hired between now and the end of December can qualify for the second bonus payment.
Available jobs can be found HERE.
“If they’re hired and they’re going to be back with the kids in January then they get it,” said Bodary, who has been in government-related accounting positions for 20 years and with Rutherford County Schools for nearly three years.
“I think our schools in Rutherford County are going to come out of this stronger than we were before and we are growing, we were one of the very few school systems in the state of Tennessee (that) grew despite the pandemic. Honestly, I am proud of our county as a whole and our system in particular.”