Marietta City Schools wants to give $1,000 bonuses to every school employee
MARIETTA, Ga - Employees with Marietta City Schools will be seeing $1,000 bonuses. And it's not just teachers, but for all district employees.
"Everybody gets a thousand [dollars] besides the superintendent," said Grant Rivera, superintendent of Marietta City Schools.
Last month Governor Brian Kemp announced teachers will get a one-time $1,000 bonus.
Rivera said the success of a school district takes everyone working together, so all the employees should get the same $1,000 bonus. It will cost the district about $175,000 but Rivera said they deserve it.
"I say thank you to the governor for the school-based bonus, the reality is we're not leaving everyone else out, they're just as important to our success," said Rivera.
Those bonuses will come once the State School Board approves the teacher bonuses which should be in the next month or two.
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School board members also agreed to partner with Peachtree Immediate Care to do COVID-19 tests for staff, families, and students on one of the school campuses. Marietta was one of the first districts in the country to partner with the CDC on a study of school-based transmission.
"What that project taught us, among many things, is who should and should not be in the building. So we're going to continue the ease and accessibility of testing," said Rivera.
At Tuesday night's meeting, school officials also talked about what they're planning for the 2021-2022 school year. For the past three months, they've been talking to teachers, principals, and virtual schools to see how they do it. They said the one thing they don't want is for teachers to have to do double duty and teach virtual and in-person classes at the same time.
They're also planning a series of town halls, so parents can give their input.
"Our goal is to avoid the whiplash and surprises that families have experienced since March of 2020, and to honor their voice and importance and do the same with our staff," said Rivera.
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