The State of Arkansas has provided direct payments to support teachers who worked during the Covid pandemic. These teachers had to adapt to distance learning when students could not come to class in person.
As we have already mentioned in other articles, there are also other extraordinary payments for the Cost of Living (COLA) that will increase by 8.7% due to the rise in inflation.
Who can apply for this extra check?
All experienced Fort Smith Public School District (FSPS) teachers are eligible to receive the one-time $1,500 bonus check.
These include adult education teachers, classroom teachers, instructional specialists, interventionists and special education coordinators. Principals and assistant principals also qualify, but district-level administrators are not eligible to claim the bonus payment. There are a total of 26 schools in Fort Smith with 1,033 teachers who could apply.
When to expect the check
The payments were approved in May earlier this year, but will not arrive for a little more than a week. Teachers should expect payments by Dec. 15, 2022.
In addition to the $1,500 checks, Fort Smith teachers will also receive a raise. The approved certified pay plan increased the base salary by $5,500 from $38,500 to $44,000 for 2022-2023.
Overall, the new Step salary increased teacher salaries by an average of $3471.81, representing a 5.89 percent salary increase for the 2022-23 contract year. Teachers should see a salary increase of between $800 and $6,300, ranging from 1.16 percent to 16.04 percent, over the next contract year.
The bonuses and salary increases come from federal emergency funding for elementary and secondary schools approved by FSPS for the 2022-23 school year.