Teachers and other staffers in District 186 will be receiving cash stipends in the months to come in recognition of the additional workload and challenges they faced since the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020.
A memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday by the Springfield Education Association calls for teachers to receive one payment of $1,000 in January, and a second $1,000 payment in June. Agreements are being worked out separately with other unions, but are expected to result in two $600 stipends for classified staff like teaching assistants and security personnel. SEA president Angie Meneghetti says teachers have faced enormous professional and personal challenges during the pandemic, and says the stipends are an appropriate way to acknowledge that.
The money for the stipends is expected to come from federal COVID relief dollars, but the total cost was not immediately known.
