Policy committee advances teacher-appreciation changes amid equity concerns

The Richmond Community Schools policy committee voted to move a revised Teacher Appreciation Grant policy (Policy 32.28.01) to first reading after staff explained recent state changes will significantly narrow who can receive awards.

At the meeting, a district staff presenter summarized the statute’s requirements, saying district participation means identifying no more than 20% of certified educators as eligible, selecting one of three stipend tiers and reporting how each educator met the tier criteria. “Tier 1 is $3,500. Tier 2 is, I believe, $5,000, and tier 3 is $7,500,” Unidentified Speaker 3 said while reading the statutory summary. The speaker also cited the district’s allocation in discussion as “a little north of $1.55 k” (as stated in the transcript), a figure the committee asked staff to confirm.

Board members expressed concern that limiting awards to up to 20% of teachers could create competition and perceived inequities among staff. Unidentified Speaker 5 said the change could “pit educators against one another,” and other members noted that certain roles (school counselors, instructional coaches or teachers in non-tested subjects) might not be eligible under IDOE guidance because eligibility requires having been assigned students during the last school year.

Given those concerns, staff recommended developing selection criteria and moving the operational detail into administrative guidelines rather than embedding specific selection rules in board policy. That approach would allow the board to set high-level policy while giving staff flexibility to adopt criteria and an application process; staff said the district must submit a plan to the Indiana Department of Education by January and expects stipend disbursements in April–May.

The committee agreed to change one draft phrasing from “shall” to “may” to preserve local discretion and approved sending the policy to first reading with the understanding that staff will return with administrative guidelines and any legal rationale from the district’s policy vendor for proposed edits. The policy will return for further consideration after staff finalizes eligibility criteria and confirms the district’s allocation amount.