Principals and assistant principals at the 42 schools in the Kent School District will receive a stipend of $7,000 this month and another $2,000 next January for the extra work they performed during COVID-19.
The Kent School Board approved March 9 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the school district and the Kent Principals Association to pay the stipends for the pandemic-related workload impact in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years.
The district has 42 principals and 42 assistant principals, so the cost of the extra pay will be $756,000.
“I want to express my thankfulness that they took a very positive attitude toward what we were trying to accomplish,” said Tim Clark, one of the five board directors, during the meeting. “I have the greatest respect for the people in that position with all of the added responsibilities that COVID brought, tracking absenteeism, trying to balance with staff and difficulties with the substitute shortage. It made it a job that consumed so much more time that already is a time-consuming job. I express my appreciation for that.”
The pandemic struck in March 2020. The district went into remote learning for students to finish out the 2019-2020 school year and returned to a hybrid of remote learning and in-person school in spring 2021. Students returned to in-person learning last fall for the 2021-2022 school year.
Board President Leslie Hamada said the principals deserve the extra pay.
“It shows we are pulling together as an unit,” Hamada said. “I respect all the work that’s been done, these principals, teachers and all staff are putting in so much time. I’m glad we could come to a conclusion on this that meets everybody’s needs.”
The MOU listed examples of the areas of increased workload:
• Coordination/facilitation of COVID-related processes, including contact tracing, administration of testing sites, PPE management and other related efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
• Training and professional development for building staff on sanitation/minimizing the spread of infectious diseases, trauma informed practices and social-emotional learning.
• Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning, supplemental after-school programs and credit recovery.
Principal salaries
In addition to the MOU, the board also approved a new two-year collective bargaining agreement with the Kent Principals Association that began in July 2021 and runs to June 2023. The agreement includes a 4% pay increase each year.
When the second pay hike kicks in this July, elementary principals will make between $153,251 and $162,282 per year, depending on experience, according to the contract. The range for assistant elementary principals will be $142,421 to $150,814.
At the middle schools, principals will be paid $160,048 to $169,457 per year and assistant principals $147,146 to $155,854, depending on experience.
Principals at the non-traditional high schools (iGrad, Kent Laboratory Academy, The Outreach Program) will be paid $163,655 to $173,126 per year and assistant principals $147,384 to $156,090, depending on experience.
At the traditional high schools, principals will earn $173,612 to $183,805 per year and assistant principals $151,521 to $160,475, depending on experience. Those with doctoral degrees at the traditional high schools receive an additional $3,000 per year.
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