VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Some employees of Virginia Beach City Public Schools will soon get a “financial boost,” according to the division.
On Tuesday, the Virginia Beach School Board voted unanimously to follow recommendations by the superintendent to give full-time division employees a one-time bonus and teachers a larger stipend if they’re teaching both in-person and virtually.
Employees on Step 0 will also receive a .25% cost of living adjustment. Employees on Steps 1 through 30 will get a .5% pay increase. Those above that scale will also receive .5% increase.
All full-time employees will receive the one-time bonus in their Nov. 30 paychecks, the division wrote in a news release.
“One thing we all agree on is the outstanding effort of VBCPS staff during these past months to keep our students safe, fed and engaged in their learning,” said Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence in a school division news release. “We have a long way to go to compensate them for their remarkable work, but this is a start.”
The cost of living adjustments come nearly eight months after school officials were forced to nix a 3.5% pay raise for employees as part of fiscal year 2021, which started July 1 this year. The raises were eliminated at that time due to decreased state funding caused by response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Personnel costs are the largest expense of the school division, and eliminating the raise at that time was the only way to avoid terminating staff, the division said.
The raises now will be funded by a combination of CARES Act funding and “reversion funds.” Using reversion funds requires approval from Virginia Beach City Council.
“The intent of tonight’s resolution is to offset the division’s limited ability to provide salary increases this year and to assist employees with any hardships faced during this pandemic,” explained School Board Chairwoman Carolyn Rye. “I am so gratified that we could make this happen for our hard-working staff.”