CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Corpus Christi Independent School District agreed on a proposal that had been in the talks for several weeks.
"It's a small thank you for all the work that teachers and all employees have done to keep the school district, C.C.I.S.D., afloat," said Nancy Vera, the president of the Corpus Christi American Federation of Teachers.
A "thank you" that totaled $4.6 million dollars. After a board meeting in October, two members pushed for the district to keep digging for more money to give back to its employees.
"The agreement back in August was whatever the balance was we would make a point to put that money back in the hands of our employees," said Alice Upshaw Hawkins, one of the board members who pushed for the change.
Hawkins said it seemed like the district was leaving out hundreds-of-thousands of dollars from their initial proposal. Hawkins is glad to see the district divide the monies and plan to disperse the funds in December.
"We've had to increase the technology we had at home, electric bills have gone up, we had to increase our internet speed. There are so many things we had to do that we didn't have to do before just to be able to do the job we needed to do," said Kelly McKeen, a teacher in the district.
But despite the challenges that her, along with other teachers, came across throughout the year, she says the stipend is a nice gesture.
"It's a nice acknowledgment that they're appreciating everything that teachers have had to implement and all of the new learning that we've had to do in such a short period of time," said McKeen.
All employees will receive a two percent stipend from the average salary; each staff member receiving a minimum $500.
"We appreciate everything that every level of employee has contributed to making our schools safe," said Hawkins.
Hawkins adds they'll also be awarding teachers, librarians and nurses an additional check.
"We felt like we should maybe do a little more for the teachers because they spend a great deal, matter of fact they spend all of the time with the students," said Hawkins.
A total of $600,000 will be divided to those specific employees.
"Everything we do is for the kids so it's great to have a little bit of compensation for that," said McKeen.
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