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WSD Offers up to $1,000 Sign-on Incentive, Mid-Year Pay Increases Amidst Staffing Shortages
Oct. 7, 2022
To assist recruitment and retention in critical staff shortage areas across the District, WSD implemented a sign-on incentive and approved several mid-year pay increases — effective immediately — at the Oct. 5 Board of Education Workshop.
The WSD is among the many school districts facing staffing shortages in areas including transportation, custodial, instructional assistants, child nutrition, before and after-care, and substitutes.
To attract talent to the District, new bus drivers, aides, custodians, and instructional assistants can earn as much as $1,000, and Chautauqua and child nutrition staff can earn up to $500 when they take a position at the WSD before Dec. 31, 2022.
To recruit new staff and help retain current team members, bus drivers districtwide received a competitive pay adjustment of up to $1 per hour, and all full-time custodial/security staff received a pay increase of $0.50 per hour.
“We did a salary comparison of the school districts in St. Charles County, Lincoln County, and Warren County for all our high-need support staff areas that revealed the WSD pay was not competitive for our bus drivers and custodians,” said Brian Bishop, assistant superintendent of human resources. “With this information and the critical staffing shortages, pay increases were a much-needed step in the right direction.”
Staffing challenges have also led to an increased need for substitute employees. To help address this need, the WSD increased substitute pay in multiple areas.
“We understood we needed to increase pay and include incentives to help keep our substitutes in our district and recruit additional people to become substitutes," Bishop said. "Our substitutes are an integral part of the school district. They provide our students with quality learning opportunities and provide assistance wherever needed on a daily basis.”
“We know the WSD is a great place to work,” Bishop said. “We are hopeful these pay increases and incentives will entice people to start employment or encourage them to continue employment in the WSD.”
