BURTON SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES STAFF INCENTIVE PAY

  

The Burton School Board approved distributing over $90,000 in staff incentive pay at its meeting Monday.

Superintendent Dr. Edna Kennedy said the district wanted to reward staff members for “going above and beyond” in meeting expectations and dealing with COVID-19.

The district’s fund balance, according to Dr. Kennedy, will allow the district to give out a one-time COVID-19 stipend of $90,552 this month for all staff members, amounting to $1,000 for each.

 

Also at Monday’s meeting, the board canvassed results from the November 3^rd election and swore in the newly elected members to the board: incumbent Misty Lucherk, Dean Fuchs, and Donna Boehnemann Putnam.  A total of 624 ballots were cast for the election, with 1,695 votes tallied between each of the six candidates in the election.  The board then officially accepted the resignation of trustee Tracey Cox, who announced in October that she would be moving out of the district.

The board also voted to maintain its current structure of Demetrius Colvin, Sr. as board president, Jeff Harmel as board vice president, and Lucherk as secretary.  A motion was made to have Lucherk as president, Colvin as vice president, and Harmel as secretary, but the motion did not pass.

During her report to the board, Dr. Kennedy announced the Burton Educational Foundation has awarded $7,607 in mini-grants to teachers for special projects in their classrooms.  She also announced that the district will soon host a facilities planning meeting with staff to begin the process of long-range planning.  The meeting will include a needs assessment of what staff feel is needed by the district and how those needs should be prioritized.

The board also:

• Tabled a proposal for custodial services. Kennedy said the district has talked to ABM, a provider that would manage and “do a culture change” for the district’s custodial services, providing training, equipment, and other materials to make the district’s services “more efficient.”  ABM is also utilized by Brenham ISD.  She said the district’s custodial staff would either be employed by the district, by the company, or a combination of both.  She said numbers are still being figured out based on how many employees would remain with the district.
• Approved a payoff of Burton State Bank bus loans. The district will not pay more than $112,000 to pay off the two loans for five buses.
• Held a public hearing on the annual school FIRST financial accountability rating for Burton ISD. The district received a superior rating of 100 for the 2019-20 school year.