Continuing to make good on the oft-stated need to show Anne Arundel County Public Schools employees they are appreciated for the important and difficult work they do every day, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell – with the full support of the Board of Education – today announced a second Employee Appreciation Bonus to be provided to employees in June.
The bonuses of up to $1,000 will be given to permanent employees as well as those temporary employees who have averaged at least 20 hours of work per week since January 1, 2023, Dr. Bedell said. Employees on a Leave of Absence are ineligible.
As was the case in December, Dr. Bedell will not accept the bonus. In addition to the bonus announced by Dr. Bedell, employees in Units III and IV will receive a $500 bonus from the State. Bonuses will be delivered to employees by June 15, 2023.
“No matter your position in our school system, you invest time, talent, and energy in the success of our students every day,” Dr. Bedell wrote in a letter to employees announcing the bonus. “Our leadership team is committed to continue investing in you, to persisting in exploring ways to show our appreciation, and to moving our school system to be the great system we know it can be.”
The bonus will be paid from savings accrued through vacancies across the school system and from federal ESSER funds. It will not require AACPS to ask for any additional funding.
In addition to the bonus earlier this school year, Dr. Bedell also instituted a virtual teleworking day for employees in November.
In his proposed Fiscal Year 2024 operating budget, Dr. Bedell also recommended a 6 percent cost-of-living increase for all employees and a step or step equivalent for eligible employees as well as bonuses for special education teachers. The Board of Education supported that funding in its request to County Executive Steuart Pittman, who has included it in the budget now being considered by the County Council.
“The facts are that the people on our team are doing incredible work while facing significant challenges,” Dr. Bedell said. “They are doing additional work because of shortages, dealing with increased requirements and, to be honest, facing an increase in unacceptable confrontations from families and students. The shortages we are seeing are real, and they will get worse if we don’t continue to show the members of our team that we appreciate them.”