A $500 bonus for Warren County School System employees is on its way.
Warren County Commissioners approved on Monday night a $402,000 budget transfer within the school’s General Purpose Fund from “assigned for education” to “regular instructional program salary supplements” to cover the one-time payout.
“This will be going to make sure all employees get a $500 bonus,” said Commissioner Terry Bell, in explaining the transfer.
The measure to transfer the funds passed unanimously.
Along with a $500 bonus, teachers are slated to receive a $300 increase in their salary schedule. While the bonus could be a one-time payout, the step increase is permanent.
“We were hoping to do $400 to the salary schedule, but we couldn’t do $400,” said Bobby Cox, Director of Schools. “So, we did $300 in the salary schedule and $500 as a bonus.”
Warren County rejected two requests from the School Board to increase the school system’s financial allocation during budget discussions. The first request was for 19 cents ($1.24 million) and the second was for 9 cents ($590,000).
Cox made the requests when he presented the school’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017-18 to the county.
The bonus will be included on the November 2017 payroll just in time for Christmas shopping.