Caldwell County Schools Bonus Merit Pay Plan approved and online for applicants

CALDWELL COUNY, NC (January 12, 2017)…The Board of Education approved the Caldwell County Schools Bonus Merit Pay Plan at its December meeting and all eligible employees are encouraged to go online now through February 28, 2017 at caldwellschools.com and submit an application.

The funds to pay non-educators a one-time merit based bonus was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in July and the State Board of Education approved allocations to each local school district with a directive to develop and submit a plan that outlined the distribution based on a criterion that established merit.

“The General Assembly intended for this to be a plan that would help employees who are going above and beyond their usual and customary span of duties and responsibilities and to recognize them by increasing their salaries,” said Associate Superintendent Dr. Trish Johnson.

According to Dr. Johnson the Caldwell County Schools plan meets all the established state requirements and rewards all non-educator employees for their performance and achievements.

The plan reflects the following principles:
1. The plan fairly and equitably recognizes eligible employees in areas that contribute to personal professional growth and school/district wide accomplishments and successes.
2. The plan is practical and timely.
3. The plan is creditable, objective and transparent.

Certified staff members and certified instructional support staff members are not eligible for the merit bonuses. However, all other employees in the district are eligible, to include administration. Employees must be in good standing and have been employed for a minimum of 20 hours per week or as a bus driver or monitor (including substitute) on September 1, 2015 and have remained in continuous employment as of February 1, 2017.

A 12-member committee representing all the different eligible employment areas in the district determined the criteria for merit pay. A point system will be used in each qualifying area, which will determine the overall bonus pay amount per applicant. The award categories for bonus merit pay include continued education or certification; bus driver experience; extra duty assignments; recognition at the school, state or national level; and longevity.

For those eligible applicants who qualify in any of the above categories, the bonus payments will be paid in April 2017.