BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Board of Education is weighing a bonus for full-time staff, new hires, and substitute teachers.
The money would be paid out using CARES Act and American Rescue Plan funding, but some are asking if it's really the best use for COVID emergency money.
Member-at-Large Terrance Heard, who proposed the resolution during Wednesday night's board meeting, says the goal is to retain BPS staff. The resolution was publicly debated and then sent to the committee for further consideration by the board.
"Teachers are leaving their posts, bus drivers are leaving the City of Buffalo and taking jobs elsewhere," Heard said during a Zoom interview with 2 On Your Side on Thursday.
The resolution would give full-time employees including teachers, administrators, and Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash a $2,000 boost; $1,000 would be paid out to new hires in two payments, and $500 would be made available for part-time substitute teachers.
While Heard believes this will proposal will incentivize sticking around through COVID challenges such as school closures, remote learning, and classroom outbreaks, others disagree and think that more public debate is necessary.
"There are much higher priorities that we as parents believe should go before we spend the money that way," Buffalo Equity Coalition member Sam Radford said.
Radford, who is also a past-President for the BPS District Parent Coordinating Council, invited Heard on his "We The Parents" podcast Thursday night to further discuss the resolution for what was at times heated but respectful debate.
Radford estimates in its current form, the resolution would cost $13 million, but when 2 On Your Side asked Heard about the cost, he said exact numbers had not been worked out but would be in committee.
Regardless of cost, however, the money would be coming from the same place, ESSER funding, which stands for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funding. The most recent iteration ESSER 3 is what would cover the proposed bonuses but will likely face legal challenges in committee.
Other districts nationwide have sought to use the money for similar "premium pay" programs including in Florida. The U.S. Secretary of Education also encouraged districts in an early December memo to "Increase Educator and Staff Compensation."
While Radford is skeptical of the proposal overall he says if the money is given out the Board of Education should better define who gets a bonus and should avoid salaried employees and those who make six figures.
"People like where we have the shortages like nurses, like cafeteria workers or people whose job is threatened I believe that if we rework it and target it towards them that is emergency relief activity that justifies the use of these funds," Radford said.
Added Heard: "There are many uses for the money I don't want to distract from the cause because children come first in our district but this is a necessary use for the money for retention."