Teachers To Receive Additional Sales Tax Payout
Tonight, the Lafayette Parish School Board unanimously approved a one-time stipend of $2,000 for both its certificated and support staff, following district administration's proposal to disburse funding 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.”
Instead of making a permanent addition to salaries, as has been done in previous years, the legislature allocated funds to school districts in the form of a one-time $2,000 stipend for teachers and $1,000 stipend for support staff, with the expectation that future legislative sessions will explore options to fund permanent salary increases. The district supplemented additional funding for the stipends using a one-time reservation of funds reserved for this purpose in a special revenue fund.
Included in the supplemental funding is money to provide stipends for pre-K teachers and staff. As has been the practice in previous years, the district covers the cost of state salary increases for its pre-K employees, as the state does not allocate funding to school districts for this category of employees. Payment of the $2,000 stipend is scheduled for November 30.
Also approved on tonight’s agenda is the 2002 ½ cent sales tax payment for teachers. Classroom teachers and other eligible employees will receive a $2,830.56 payout on October 31, with a $750 increase to the teacher pay scale effective November 1. Additionally, the board approved a $750 increase to the instructional pay scale, aligning the two salary schedules. 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 follow 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 be presented with recommendations on how to distribute a differential compensation stipend funded by the State at a future meeting.
