The Henderson County Board of Education approved a one-time local bonus for employees who will not receive the state’s $2,000 payment, agreeing to a $1,000 lump sum for qualifying full-time employees, $500 for qualifying part-time employees and contracted bus drivers.

Board members voted to add the bonus to the meeting agenda and then approved the payment on a unanimous roll-call vote. The director’s office presented cost estimates and eligibility criteria: the district calculated the total cost for the locally funded bonus at $299,007.92 (presented as $299,007.92 50 in the record) and recommended eligibility require employees to have worked at least 121 days in the most recent school year and to still be employed by the Board of Education at the time of payment.

The director and finance staff (identified in the meeting as Megan) explained how the state’s $2,000 payment is expected to be passed through with an employer-share allocation of roughly 15.33% to cover Social Security, Medicare and Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System contributions; the district said that employer share should largely offset its additional costs for qualifying teachers but noted differences in retirement-rate classifications (legacy vs. hybrid hires) that affect precise calculations. The presenter said noncertified employees have a different employer contribution rate (presented as about 8.1%), and those differences were included in the district’s cost estimate.

District staff told the board the state had not yet sent the lump-sum payments and anticipated doing so in late July; the district said it would time the local payments to coincide with the state distribution. The presenters advised that the local bonus would be paid from general-purpose local funds (Fund 141, instructional program), not from transportation or cafeteria funds.

Board members discussed logistical concerns about payroll processing for separated or terminated employees and accepted the recommendation that eligibility be limited to staff who remain on payroll to avoid reopening closed payroll records. The motion to adopt the bonus and the eligibility criteria carried on a roll-call vote with all seven members recorded as voting yes.

The district said it will finalize payroll calculations and follow-up timing once the state’s payment is received and will answer follow-up questions from board members about individual calculations and tax-withholding specifics.