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St. Charles Parish staff propose cuts to mentor and referral stipends; board seeks data on impacts
Summary
Personnel staff proposed lowering mentor stipends (experienced-mentor max to $750; new-teacher mentor max to $1,500) and eliminating some referral stipends for FY27 to reduce costs; board members asked for numbers on affected staff and recommended considering phased or attrition-based approaches.
Teresa Brown, the district personnel lead, presented proposed revisions to mentor and referral stipends at the Personnel & Policy committee meeting, saying the changes reflect program evolution and a plan to shift mentoring workload onto staff development coordinators and site leadership.
"We do feel like we can reduce those stipends," Brown said, describing a new model that reduces the experienced-teacher mentor maximum from $2,400 to $750 and proposes a $1,500 max for brand-new teachers (previously $2,400). She said alternative-certification mentors would retain a higher maximum ($3,000) because of state PL requirements and that mentor‑trainer stipends could be eliminated in favor of lower‑cost certification pathways such as APEL or state LER training.
Brown told the committee the district has budgeted roughly $65,000 for the mentor/referral categories in FY27 but said actual expenditures will vary depending on hires and program uptake. "We are budgeting this for this fiscal year for mentor stipends, $65,000 for these 3 categories," she said.
Board members pressed for additional data. One member recommended an attrition‑based phase‑in to reduce the immediate pay impact on veteran mentors and to limit morale consequences. Brown agreed to provide the committee with follow‑up data on how many current mentors would be affected and on potential phased implementation options.
Why it matters: mentor stipends are a targeted retention and onboarding tool for new teachers; changes could reduce district costs but also reduce earnings for some veteran mentors. The committee discussed communication plans and the possibility of using staff development coordinators to absorb parts of the work currently paid by stipends.
Next steps: administration will return with requested counts of affected staff, clearer savings estimates, and implementation alternatives (including attrition models) before formal board action.
