DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas — All Dripping Springs ISD employees hired as of Nov. 15 will receive a lump sump retention payment of $750 by Dec. 17, after the district's board of trustees approved the bonuses at its latest meeting, Community Impact reports.
The board first considered a resolution on the proposed bonuses during its Oct. 25 meeting but didn't approve the bonuses until Nov. 15. At its meeting, the board approved the motion to spend $881,250 total on the 1,175 retention payments in acknowledgement of increased turnover this year.
According to Community Impact, the percentage of Dripping Springs teachers who left their jobs increased from 10.7% in 2019-20 to 16.6% in 2020-21. At every campus and in Dripping Springs ISD as a whole, relocation was the most common reason given for leaving the district. The second-most common reason was family and the third was leaving the teaching profession altogether.
The report states that for all Dripping Springs ISD employees, the number of departures increased from 118 in the 2019-20 school year to 170 in 2020-21.
In December 2020, the board issued a lump sum payment of $500 to each staff member in the district through a resolution that pulled money left over from the 2019-20 school year budget, Community Impact reported in October. According to that previous Community Impact report, Dripping Springs ISD is especially concerned about custodial, food services and transportation staff, as those departments seem to have higher turnover than in previous years.
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