Wake County Public School System employees could get another bonus check

Wake County Public School System employees could be getting another bump in their pay.

The school board is getting ready to consider another $3,750 bonus next week.

It's on top of the $1,250 bonuses approved this month.

District leaders will recommend that the three additional bonus payments be handed out in January, May and November of 2022.

The source is one-time federal funding.

Some Wake County school bus drivers no-show again in ongoing pay dispute

"I'm in it for my students so they can be successful," said Daniel Grant-King, an instructional assistant at South Garner High School. "That's why I keep coming back."

He works specifically with students with special needs but he was pressed into much more the last 18 months. He didn't get any more compensation for those extra responsibilities either.

"At some point, a lot of people are leaving," Daniel said. "I see that every day now, in special education alone, there's something like 300 positions left."

The North Carolina Association of Educators said the bonuses are a start but it's time to focus on base pay and getting every employee up to $17 an hour. They also want bus drivers and teachers to be paid for the extra shifts they cover.

"I think as we know working conditions for teachers have been terrible since before COVID," said Stacy Elezcko, who's worked with Wake County for 15 years.

She's now an instructional coach for East Garner Middle School but said she's had to fill in for their vacant receptionist job.

"We are just losing people across the board and the very least we can do is compensate people for the additional work they've been dealing with," Elezcko said. "We'll all do what we need to do because it will benefit our kids."

There will also be some talk about base pay and getting the minimum wage up to $15 an hour for all employees but there's no expected action on that until December.