Arizona School District Gave out $68 Million in Bonuses Using COVID-19 Emergency Money

Tucson Unified School District gave employees $68 million in retention bonuses and vaccine stipends, according to Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo in a document given to the school board.

Trujillo made the statement in a Sept. 13 report, which stated, “Over $68 million invested in our employees through the payment of retention and vaccine stipends.”

Each full-time employee in the district would receive up to $7,500 to be paid in three payments, according to a school district document. The first payment would be Dec. 2 with later payments on June 16, 2023, and Dec. 1, 2023.

The payments would go full-time employees, including long-term substitutes, leased employees, daily substitutes and employees in supplemental positions, according to the district document.

Employees who work less than half-time would receive $3,750. The district’s 2023 budget reports there are 7,434 full-time positions in the district.

The Tucson Sentinel reported in August that the school district was considering paying $250 to any employee who got a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.

Trujillo has not responded to multiple emails seeking details on the bonuses paid out. Adelita Grijalva, the president of the school board, referred questions about the retention bonuses to the district’s media relations team, which did not respond to emails seeking details.

The National Council on Teacher Quality reported in December 2021 that about 40% of the 148 school districts they surveyed offered some type of retention bonuses. Those bonuses ranged from $350 to $5,000. The Center Square reported in February that the Flint public school district in Michigan gave $22,500 bonuses to its employees.

The Center Square put in an open records request for the information, but the district did not respond to an email asking how long it would take to get the records.

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This article was published by The Center Square and is reproduced with permission.