District 56 to Provide Retention Stipends to Employees

In a called meeting of the Laurens County School District 56 School Board of Trustees on Wednesday evening, the Board approved a recommendation by the administration to amend the ARP/ESSER plan to provide retention stipends to its current employees. We feel our staff has gone above and beyond the call of duty since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone has worked extremely hard to ensure our students received the very best instruction and support during this unprecedented time. They continue to go above and beyond even now to ensure all our students get beyond the learning loss many suffered due to circumstances beyond their control.

To show appreciation to those who have been loyal to the district as well as those who are new, we want to show our appreciation with this retention stipend for all they are doing. We hope our employees will stay in District 56 and continue to provide our students with the very best instruction and support services. This incentive will go to all District 56 current full-time and part-time permanent employees based on the following criteria: Employees with 2 or more years of experience with District 56 will receive a pre-tax incentive of  $2,000; one year of experience will receive a pre-tax incentive of $1,500. Employees with less than 1 year of experience with District 56 will receive a pre-tax incentive of $1,000.