Gwinnett County teachers lose out on $2,000 retention bonus this year

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Teachers and staff across Gwinnett County will go without an expected $2,000 retention bonus this school year after state lawmakers excluded the funding from the budget.

Gwinnett County teacher bonus

What we know:

According to the Gwinnett County Association of Educators, many teachers only recently learned the payout would not arrive.

Alison Cundiff, president of the Gwinnett County Association of Educators, said she has spoken with numerous teachers who are unprepared to absorb the financial loss. Many employees rely on the stipend to pay for holiday expenses, family travel or extra costs like medical bills.

"Because we were so accustomed to getting those bonuses provided by the state nobody was prepared for when the news came that there would be no bonus this year. That part is definitely on the state but the problem is the district failed to communicate to people in time," Cundiff said.

Teacher retention policy proposals

What they're saying:

In place of the canceled stipend, Cundiff urged the school district to adopt two workplace policy changes aimed at keeping educators in the classroom.

First, she called for protecting daily preparation schedules for teachers whose workloads are already stretched thin.

"A policy across the district that protects planning time," Cundiff said. "Right now, our planning time is constantly being taken up by professional development (and) meetings about planning, but not planning."

Second, she advocated for a rule ensuring educators have support during unexpected administrative reprimands.

"A chosen witness policy that prevents ambush meetings," Cundiff said, describing them as "meetings where they (administration) brings you in, no warning, give a disciplinary warning and you don’t have a witness with you in the room, so that is demoralizing and causes people to leave."

School district response

What we don't know:

Gwinnett County Public Schools has not yet responded to a request for comment regarding the delayed communication or the union's policy proposals. Officials have also not indicated whether local reserve funds could be used to offset the missing state stipend.

District policy negotiations

What's next:

Association leaders plan to continue pressing district administrators to implement protected planning periods and witness protections during disciplinary meetings to prevent staff turnover this school year.