FORT BEND, Texas – The Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees approved a resolution Monday authorizing a one-time retention and recruitment supplemental payment to staff members. Trustees also approved the appointments of a new Chief Communications Officer and a new Chief Operations Officer, according to a news release.
The supplements will provide staff members on the teacher pay scale with a $1,500 one-time payment. Full-time non-teaching staff will receive $1,000 and part-time staff such as crossing guards will receive $500, the district said. The payments will be included in the September 15 paycheck for those employed by the district as of June 5.
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The district is also offering newly-hired employees a recruitment supplement of $1,500 to be paid to those on the teacher pay scale. A total of $1,000 will be given to full-time non-teaching staff and $500 will be given to part-time employees. Those eligible for the recruitment supplement will receive the payment on November 30, according to FBISD. Existing staff members are not eligible.
District officials said the board is scheduled to vote on the 2023-24 budget at the meeting on June 26, which will include a $500 step increase for existing teachers. The $1,500 retention supplement plus the $500 step will bring the payment for teachers to $2,000.
The supplements amount to $15 million. Although the state has reportedly not increased the basic per-student allotment, the legislature did make changes to the state’s funding formula that resulted in an additional $18 million for the district.
“Some of those funds, plus district budget reductions totaling $40 million over the last two years, have freed up ESSER funds to pay for the retention and recruitment supplements,” the release said.
The board also voted to appoint Kimberly Smith to fill the Chief Communications Officer position. Smith is presently the Communications Director at Alief ISD. Damian Viltz, who is presently Fort Bend ISD’s Executive Director of Facilities, was appointed to fill the Chief Operations Officer role, FBISD said.
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