The Caddo Parish School Board unanimously voted on Tuesday to approve up to $2,500 per district employee as a thank you for their work during this difficult school year.

The Caddo Hero Incentive Plan is estimated to cost $15.5 million and will be funded primarily through federal stimulus dollars. Both full-time and substitute employees are eligible for the incentive which is designed to recognize and reward employees for their efforts to create and maintain safe learning environments to support in-person instruction.

“Our dedicated employees have faced obstacles many others cannot understand in the interest of ensuring our students had access to the highest quality teaching and learning,” said Dr. T. Lamar Goree, Superintendent of Caddo Schools. “To make that a reality, they have worked long hours and gone above and beyond in the interest of student safety and commitment to educational excellence. The nearly 5,000 employees who comprise our district are among the most hard-working and passionate individuals I have ever had the pleasure to know and I am thankful to our Board for unanimously supporting an opportunity to thank our staff for what they do every day in the interest of children.”

Full-time employees will receive an incentive payment of $1,250 per semester if they are actively employed on the last day of the semester. Employees who resign or are terminated would not be eligible for the payment. Employees on approved leaves for the 2021-2022 school year would be eligible if they report to work during the year.

Substitute employees, both long-term and day-to-day, also will be eligible for the incentive using the same payment schedule as full-time employees. For long-term substitutes who are filling declared teaching vacancies, they must be available full-time substitutes on the last day of each semester to qualify for $1,250 per semester. Day-to-day substitutes will receive $10 per day worked during the school year. To qualify, day-to-day substitutes must have worked 86 days, but payments may not exceed $2,500. Student-workers do not qualify for this incentive.

Payments will be dispersed in January and June 2022.

“The professionalism shown by our employees amid the stresses they have had to contend with has been admirable,” said Board President John Albritton. “While a token of appreciation, it is well-deserved and our employees are to be commended for all they have done for children.”

Caddo remains a leader in its recognition of not only full-time and part-time employees of the district but also any substitutes who met the outlined criteria. With teacher shortages reported nationally, substitutes have become the backbone of many schools in ensuring students are receiving the needed instruction and resources for success.