Shawnee Heights highlights tuition incentives and sick‑leave pool to boost teacher retention

Shawnee Heights district officials told the board during their regular meeting that two programs aimed at keeping teachers in the district are producing measurable results.

Matt Hirsch, speaking during the district status report, said the district’s tuition‑incentive program supported 12 teachers working on their first master’s degree, who together completed 156 credits last year. “We paid out over $30,000 to those teachers, for earning that,” Hirsch said, noting more educators are expected to enroll next year.

Hirsch also described a voluntary sick‑leave pool that had 228 of 306 teachers enrolled (about 75 percent participation). “That gives them 10 days from the pool,” he said, and outlined a catastrophic clause allowing eligible staff to apply for up to 60 additional days; the board may grant another 30 days in extraordinary cases, producing a potential total of roughly 100 days of leave.

District leaders framed both programs as retention tools that reduce financial and health‑care pressures for staff. The tuition incentive lowers the out‑of‑pocket cost of graduate study, Hirsch said, while the sick‑leave pool operates as a short‑term disability‑style safety net that reduces pay‑docking in early post‑exhaustion periods.

Board members did not vote on changes to either program during the meeting; the items were presented as updates and for board awareness.

The district’s presentation included operational details (enrollment counts, credit totals and dollars paid) and a request that the board continue supporting the programs as part of broader staff‑retention goals.