This Thursday, December 20, the Fort Smith School District in Arkansas will issue one-time bonus stimulus checks to eligible teachers $1,500 in time for the holidays.
The money comes from the federal government’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. It is meant to help veteran instructors on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic.
Stimulus Checks in Arkansas
The payments authorized by the school board in May will be made by December 15 of this year.
Only experienced educators in the Fort Smith school system, such as those working in adult education, classroom teaching, instructional support, and intervention and special education coordination, will get the one-time bonuses.
While principals and assistant principals are eligible for this bonus, district-level administrators are not.
Benefiting from the Certified Salary Schedule, teachers will see an annual increase of $3,471.81, or 5.89%, in compensation for the 2017–2018 academic year. Since inflation is still high during this busy holiday season, the $1,500 extra payout is welcome news.
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Who’s Eligible?
Fort Smith Public School (FSPS) veteran educators will receive $4.5 million from a recognized wage schedule in the district as a one-time special payment. We can include the following categories of educators among those who are qualified to apply:
- Education professionals
- Interventionists
- Personnel trained to instruct
- Coordinators of Special Education
- Those who work in adult education
School administrators are eligible for the payout, while district-level administrators and department heads are not.
By December 15th, the funds will be distributed to the educators. With the Certified Salary Schedule, the Fort Smith Public School system (FSPS) will increase teachers’ basic salary by $5,500, from $38,500 to $44,000, for the upcoming school year.
This equates to an average raise of $3,471.81, or 5.89%, for a teacher’s income. Educators can anticipate a raise of $800 to $6,300 for the upcoming contract year.
Read more: Do stimulus checks contribute to inflation?