All Portage Township Schools employees will be receiving a $1,200 stipend in recognition of their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At their July 12 discussion meeting, the PTS School Board of Trustees approved a $1,200 stipend for each employee who worked at least 120 days during the 2020-2021 school year, are currently employed for the 2021-2022 school year, attest that additional duties were completed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and receive direct supervisor agreement that these additional duties were completed.
The stipends will be paid from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund dollars the district anticipates to receive from the federal government. ESSER funds are to be used to support pandemic-related initiatives in schools.
In a letter to staff, superintendent Dr. Amanda Alaniz said the stipend helps to recognize all employee groups for the increase in workloads and responsibilities due to the “constantly changing circumstances of the pandemic.”
“The [PTS School Board] and I are so appreciative of not only the work you have done but for sticking with us and persevering throughout the pandemic,” Alaniz said. “What you do makes a difference, and we are proud to be able to recognize that.”
At the July 12 Board meeting, Trustee Troy Williams thanked Dr. Alaniz for working with her team to develop and present a plan to ensure all PTS employees received the stipend.
“This is a community that went through this, we went through this together,” Williams said. “I appreciate Dr. Alaniz and her team for bringing this to us and putting this together, and for the other board members realizing the importance of this.”
PTS Board president Andy Maletta specifically thanked Trustee Wilma Vazquez for initiating talks of providing a stipend to the staff.
“I want to thank Trustee Vazquez because she’s the first one who brought this up to us,” Maletta said. “And, obviously, everyone was quickly on board.”
When schools were ordered closed in March 2020, school staff shifted to an E-Learning model and conducted business remotely. This stipend, Alaniz said, serves as a thank you to all PTS staff members, including those who modified their lesson plans, checked on buildings and conducted regular maintenance, prepared meals for students, delivered food, provided families with household necessities, conducted socially distanced home visits, organized neighborhood parades in order to remain connected with students and families, provided IT support and maintenance on devices, and more.