By Ruthann Carr
Correspondent
The Fluvanna School Board voted unanimously in its Wednesday (April 14) meeting to give staff bonuses.
Full-time employees will get $500; permanent part-time employees will get $250. The bonuses will be issued as a separate check on April 22.
Superintendent Chuck Winkler advocated for the bonuses, saying, “The money is there.”
Winkler also suggested giving staff a 5 percent raise in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.
The Board will vote on that change at the May 12 meeting.
Winkler said Fluvanna schools are getting $2.7 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds as part of federal coronavirus relief.
“We want to use this money to reduce class sizes,” he said. “We’ll also look at additional needs (social and emotional).”
Winkler said the ESSER funds must be spent by September 2024.
The goal of the cash infusion is to help students affected by changes to education due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Winkler said students began attending school in-person four days per week on Monday, April 12, and so far, everything was going smoothly.
“I got one positive comment from one parent,” he said.
Letters inviting students to summer school will go out by the end of April.
The four-week program is invitation only.
Winkler said his team is lobbying to continue the “feed-all” program beyond June 30.
Talk at the state-level expects school returning to in-person education, five days per week, Winkler said.
There will be a virtual component, but whether it is provided by Virtual Virginia or Virtual Fluvanna is open-ended.
Winkler recommended the Board stay with Benefit Plan Administrators for health insurance. The Board will vote on that at an upcoming meeting.
Winkler will retire on June 30.
There’s been no word yet on who his replacement will be.
