ALICE, Texas — Alice Independent School District is giving all of it's employees an incentive to stay with the district as it continues to battle the pandemic.
The COVID Hardship Retention Stipend is a $2,000 check for all Alice ISD employees, including bus drivers and cafeteria staff.
The generous amount of money acts as a sign of appreciation for sticking with the district throughout the pandemic.
Superintendent Carl Scarbrough said he appreciates his staff for working as hard as they can when the pandemic added road blocks.
"Going through the Delta the Omicron, all the different variants, it's been really, a challenge," Scarbrough said.
Aside from a salary raise, Scarbrough hopes the extra cash will encourage his staff to stay with the district because just this year alone, several teachers have moved on. Justin Siller teaches English 2 to sophomores and has taught for six years. He said with experience under his belt, it's still difficult teaching in a pandemic, especially when it's been going on for so long.
"Last year and this year have been very very tough," Siller said. "This year, what's tough is now we have everybody back but, they've lost a lot of time and trying to get everybody back to where they should be is a challenge."
According to officials with Alice ISD, they're looking at more ways to reward and keep their employees. Along with the stipend, Alice ISD has also added around $10-12,000 to teacher salaries to remain competitive with surrounding school districts.
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