TYLERTOWN — Walthall County school board members are considering ways to recruit and retain teachers as a statewide teacher shortage promises to worsen.
Other districts in the area, including South Pike and McComb, have adopted such incentives as signing bonuses and attendance compensation to recruit and retain teachers.
Superintendent Wade Carney said action by the Mississippi legislature could help the district retain some teachers this year who might otherwise retire.
“We have many individuals who are waiting to see if the pay raise goes through before they sign their contract,” Carney said. “They’ve got their years in.”
Beyond that, the district will have to come up with its own methods and funding for recruitment and retention incentives.
“I would be in favor of a signing bonus,” board member Linda Metz said.
Carney said that might not be fair to teachers to have worked in the district for years, and Metz said, “That was my next statement.”
Carney said the district might consider a bonus for longtime teachers similar to the pay scale for teacher assistants in the district, which provides a boost in pay every five years.
Tylertown High School Principal Dr. Roland Morgan raised the possibility of providing a “comp day” for teachers who don’t miss work often, rather than a monetary bonus like that offered by the McComb School District.
“Some districts have upped the sick and personal days they allow,” Carney said. “Then you think, does that encourage teachers to miss more?
“But on the other hand, if they don’t use them, they can save them and add to their retirement.”
Business manager Marcy Hartzog pointed out that the district could provide more money to teachers across the board by raising the district’s local supplement.
“That hasn’t been changed in forever,” she said.
Carney, however, said the focus of many prospective teachers is the extra bonus for signing or attendance, which is usually paid in a lump sum.
“We have talked about this off and on,” Carney said. “The time is upon us to do something.”
Board member Deloris Breland said any incentives should be based on “some kind of merit, just as a matter of fairness.”
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Bradley Brumfield performance-based compensation had not worked well in any of the educational settings that attempted it.
“It didn’t work for the teachers, and it didn’t work for the students,” he said.
At the board’s direction, Carney said central office personnel would explore different incentives and bring some recommendations next month.
In other business, board members learned that a special program is paying dividends in test performance, but that could be offset by new rules on which students must take the test.
Salem Attendance Center Principal Vanessa Boyd reported that a student at her school scored a 30 on the ACT, after having scored a 26 in a previous administration of the test.
The student was part of a Jumpstart Test Prep pilot program funded by a $100,000 grant from the state legislature at Salem and 14 other pilot sites, which include North Pike, Bogue Chitto and Franklin County. The program particularly targets math.
The program uses online videos and workbooks and can be used in ACT prep classes or not.
While the district has seen some success arise from the program, Brumfield said school ACT averages could fall after the next test administration.
He said testing coordinators were informed recently that districts must ensure that severely cognitively disabled students must take the test like any other high school junior in the state, which is a change from previous policy and practice.
“We can no longer exclude” those students, he said. “We’re going to have to test kids who can’t hold a pencil, some that are bedridden.”
