CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. — Cabarrus Association of Educators is calling for the school board to approve $4,000 retention bonuses instead of the current proposal of an additional $500 bonus.
Current school district employees received a $1,000 retention bonus in January from the state. The county has not paid out any supplemental bonuses. The district is considering future bonuses for June, December and again the following June.
“We are looking at a retention program, " Holly Grimsley, the chair of the Cabarrus County Board of Education, explained to WCNC Charlotte. "The real challenge to all this is we do not have anything to do with the salaries. That’s at the state level. So we know we need to have some conversations with legislators. Even though we’ve had them in the past, it’s probably more pressure oriented now”
One former teacher blames the COVID-19 pandemic for teacher shortages and her early retirement.
Kim Biondi retired from Cabarrus County Schools this past September after 21 years of teaching.
“Teaching was not fun," she said. “It was a little hard that last day, I took down all the pictures from 20 years’ worth of students in the classroom because it was a thing, they’d give me their senior picture or prom picture and I would put it on my board”
Contact Lexi Wilson at lwilson@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.