Terrebonne school staff to get holiday bonuses

For Terrebonne Parish’s 2,700-plus school workers, Christmas got a little merrier. The school board approved one-time bonuses last week.

An original proposal would have given bonuses to full-time employees only, at a total cost of $3.6 million.

However, acting on an alternative plan introduced by board member Roosevelt Thomas, the board OK’d adding the school district’s 106 part-time workers.

The final vote was 6-3, with members Richard Jackson, Donald Duplantis and L.P. Bordelon voting against the measure.

The original bonus proposed by School Superintendent Ed Richard excluded part-time staff. End-of-year bonuses would have been calculated based on 3 percent of an employee’s annual pay under Richard’s plan.

Under Thomas’s plan, part-time staff will receive a $250 bonus. Support workers, such as aides, secretaries and janitors, will receive $1,000. Teachers, principals, administrators and other instructional staff will receive $1,500.

The total cost of the alternative bonus has yet to be tabulated, a point of concern voiced by Duplantis and Bordelon.

Harris Henry, director of finance, is expected to have the numbers later this week.

“We have no idea what the cost of this plan is, but we do know the cost of the 3 percent bonus,” Bordelon said. “That plan is also fairer relative to pay and to people’s longevity and service to the parish. Long-term employees are recognized and new employees are not penalized.”

Board member Roger DeHart argued there is “no perfect formula. An employee who has been here 15 years deserves more, but I respect all of our employees. It takes all of the staff to make it work.”

The Christmas bonuses will be paid with the $5.5 million in surplus money the school system is slated to receive at the end of the school year, Richard said. A portion of the money will come from a local one-cent sales tax dedicated to teacher salaries.

“I want our employees to be happy – all employees,” Thomas said. “Teachers and part-time workers.”

“This is a one-time thing we’re doing tonight,” he added. “I would hope the administration would make [bonuses] part of the proposed budget with anticipated monies in the future.”