LAFAYETTE, La. — Thursday night, the Lafayette Parish School Board unanimously approved a one-time $2,000 stipend for its certified and support staff, after district administrators proposed spending funds allocated during the 2023 Regular Session of the Legislature.
"While we understand that this may not be a recurring practice, we are pleased to provide equal stipends to all employees and remain somewhat competitive this year,” states Superintendent Francis Touchet, Jr. “We appreciate the board’s support on this retention initiative.”
According to the school board, rather than provide a permanent salary increase as in previous years, the Legislature appropriated funds to school districts in the form of a one-time $2,000 stipend for teachers and a $1,000 stipend for support staff. The Legislature anticipated that future legislative sessions would explore options for funding permanent salary increases. The district supplemented the additional funding for the stipends by using a one-time appropriation set aside in a special revenue fund for this purpose.
Money to provide stipends for pre-K teachers and staff is included in the supplemental funding, says Public Information Officer Amanda N. Blanco. As in previous years, the district is covering the cost of state salary increases for its pre-K employees because the state does not provide funding to school districts for this category of employees.
The $2,000 stipend is scheduled to be disbursed on November 30, Blanco reports.
The 2002 ½ cent sales tax payment for teachers was also approved on Thursday's agenda. Classroom teachers and other eligible employees will receive a payment of $2,830.56 on October 31, with a $750 increase to the teacher pay scale effective November 1. In addition, the board approved a $750 increase to the instructional pay scale to align the two salary schedules. Officials say this adjustment positions Lafayette Parish as the second highest paying public school system for a first-year teacher in the region.
These one-time payments are on the heels of a $1,200 COVID-related recovery and retention stipend approved by the board in August and paid to employees in September. In addition, the board will receive recommendations at a future meeting on how to distribute a state-funded differential compensation stipend.
