LM May 2017 Final

By Sheila Greenwood Superintendent Bement CUSD #5

Loyaltypaysoff inBement’s creative teacher recruitment &retentionprogram

Bargaining occurred as it always does and the agreement was made that teachers who had served our district for 10 years would receive a one-time bonus of $500 in the first paycheck of their 11th year. Teachers who had served 20- plus years would receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 in their first paycheck of their 21st year. This assured the board that the teachers wouldn’t take the bonus and leave after the landmark year was met. Teachers in between 10 and 20 years of service would also receive the $500 and teachers with more than 20 years would receive the $1,000 bonus. Retention is sometimes a matter of feeling appreciated and feeling like an important part of something. We felt that this would be a step in the right direction. The largest expense would be in the first year of implementation, but would not come close to the expense of teacher turnover and losing curriculum. Bement is still in the building mode and we want to continue in that direction for years to come. The Bement Board of Education accomplished the goals it set forth and we were able to demonstrate our appreciation to our loyal staff and have a recruiting tool if needed. Slowly, one branch at a time, we crawled out on the limb of something entirely new and unprecedented— a loyalty bonus . In order to be comfortable in offering up language of a potential hiring bonus, the teachers needed to feel appreciated for their loyalty to the district and their continued good works.

The Bement School District is a small rural district in the heart of the State of Illinois. We have seen the teacher surpluses disappear and now we are dealing with teacher shortages just like the rest of the state. The shortage is now across all levels and all subjects, not just our traditional “hard-to-fill” subjects such as foreign language, special education, science and math. The shortage has even trickled down to our substitute list, making a typical day at school turn into a three-ring circus, filling with in-house subs or moving students across campus. Negotiations started in April and the Bement Community Unit School District 5 Board of Education had several goals in mind, but none bigger than recruiting and retention. Tensions remain high in our state government and, once again, there is no new information or ability to project or predict finances. We decided to move forward in good faith and attack our primary goals along with our teacher’s union. There are few words that strike fear into a union member’s heart and mind like “freeze” or “hiring bonus.” We chose the latter, explaining our rationale. The teachers have been kept up to date with what is happening in our state and the lack of qualified candidates for teaching positions. We negotiated an “up to $5,000 hiring bonus” if the board is unable to fill a vacant position with a suitable candidate. This would be done with the notification of the union. There was a level of understanding with the Bement Education Association, but also the need to fulfill the other highly important goal of retention. Slowly, one branch at a time, we crawled out on the limb of something entirely new and unprecedented—a loyalty bonus. In order to be comfortable in offering up language of a potential hiring bonus, the teachers needed to feel appreciated for their loyalty to the district and their continued good works.

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