Gilmer County School System employees are set to receive a $2,000 bonus in their April paycheck.
The influx of cash arrives after Gov. Brian Kemp signed an amended budget for fiscal year 2022. The one-time payment will be delivered to public state employees at the university and K-12 levels.
Gilmer County superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley noted that while the bulk of the county’s employees will receive this bonus from the state, the district will cover 89 bonuses.
“The state sometimes promises things and makes us pay for it,” he said at the board of education’s April 11 meeting. “They covered 458 of our 559 employees for a total of $916,000. That’s what we’ll receive to provide these bonuses.
“Pre-K has 12 employees, and they provided $24,000 for that bonus. That leaves 89 noncovered employees, which will cost us $171,940 for a total of $1,111,940.”
Chief financial officer Trina Penland said the state omitted some employees such as school clerks, food service workers and a handful of bus drives while only covering a portion of the $2,000 bonus for others.
Ridley said the district will also provide bonuses for substitute teachers. Depending on days worked during FY22, their bonuses will range from $250 up to $1,000.
The district will use CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) funds to pay bonuses not covered by the state.
Educators will also receive a $2,000 permanent pay increase starting in FY23.