The Higley Unified School District announced plans Tuesday to introduce annual stipends beginning next school year in an effort to attract and retain special education and transportation staff.
During the April 22 board meeting, district officials outlined new market stipends aimed at making Higley more competitive with surrounding districts.
Special education resource teachers, both new and continuing, will receive $2,500 annually. Special education self-contained teachers in the same categories will receive $5,000.
These stipends will be paid over the course of each employee’s contract.
In addition, transportation staff with a school bus certificate will receive $1,500 annually. Administrative staff who hold certificates will not be eligible.
"A market stipend is provided when the current market is calling for something more than what we currently offer," Human Resources Executive Director Karen Johnson said, adding that similar or greater stipends are already being offered by nearby districts.
The district is facing staffing shortages, with about 10 open special education positions for the coming school year. Johnson expressed hope that the stipends will help alleviate hiring challenges.
“We found that some of our surrounding districts were paying this amount or more annually,” she said.
Transportation staffing has also been a concern, as other employers offer significantly higher hourly wages.
"There are sources out there that are paying much more than what we are, anywhere from $2 to $8 more per hour to employees,” Johnson said.
Board Member Anna Van Hoek praised the stipends for transportation staff in particular.
“In many cases, because other careers offer higher pay, that once they have their CDL (commercial driver’s) license, they can go be a truck driver, they can drive trash for the town, and it pays higher,” she said. “So I do appreciate that we can offer them more money in order as an incentive to stay with us.”
The stipends will be paid over the course of each recipient’s contract year.
We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
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