Atlanta’s school system said late Thursday it will follow through with Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan to provide bonuses to its employees after all.
Kemp announced the one-time payments of $1,000 Monday for state, university and public school employees.
Shortly afterward, Atlanta Public Schools issued a statement to staff telling them not to expect the salary bump.
“All eligible Atlanta Public Schools (APS) employees have already received the state-referenced employee retention supplement in the form of the Mid-Year Holiday Retention Stipend, included in the December 14, 2023 paycheck,” the message read.
The school district changed course Thursday evening, hours after Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods sent a letter to Atlanta Public Schools interim Superintendent Danielle Battle pushing her to reconsider the district’s decision.
“The intent of Atlanta Public Schools and the Atlanta Board of Education was to reward our hardworking teachers and school staff with a bonus before the holiday break, while also being fiscally responsible stewards of taxpayer funds,” the district said in a statement. “We did that as a district on December 15th and we are committed to passing along any additional funds once funds are disbursed for the Governor’s proposal and clarification is provided on which categories of employees should be covered by the bonus.”
APS initially said the money Kemp approved for the bonuses would be used for other district priorities.
“In this instance, we preemptively moved to show our appreciation to staff by asking our Board to approve the usage of fund balance for all employees in early December so that we could get our payments out in advance of the holiday break,” the district said in a statement earlier this week to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We greatly appreciate the Governor’s willingness to use the state fund balance to share in the cost by providing stipends for our teachers, as this allows us to use our fund balance for other educational needs. Since we used district fund balance to secure the appreciation payments made to all eligible employees on the December 15th payroll, the state funding announced today will be used in support of other APS priorities.”
In his letter to Battle, first reported Thursday by the AJC, Woods said he was “baffled” by the district’s ability to predict the exact timing and amount of the bonus.
“Let me be very clear: the intent of the state’s $1,000 retention pay supplement is not to backfill the Atlanta Public Schools budget or ‘share in the cost’ of additional recognition already provided by districts to teachers,” Woods’ letter reads.
Lisa Morgan, the president of the Georgia Association of Educators, said it’s puzzling that APS didn’t wait on guidance from Woods’ office before notifying staff they wouldn’t receive the money.
“It’s very disappointing that a system would state — before they have all the details — that educators are not going to receive the bonus that was announced and intended for them,” Morgan said.
Woods ended his letter to Battle with a plea to change the district’s decision.
“The state is providing a $1,000 retention payment to teachers and support staff, and it is my expectation that they will receive it,” he said. “Anything less is a disservice to the teachers and staff whose efforts in the classroom — far more than anything that takes place at the state or central office level — are the reason our students succeed.”
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