Atlanta Board approves $17.1 million plan to pay employee appreciation stipends

The Atlanta Board of Education voted to approve a district plan to pay employee appreciation stipends, adopting both the stipend payout and the related budget adjustment on voice votes.

Superintendent Dr. Johnson and district finance staff explained the package: eligible full-time employees would receive $2,000, part-time staff would receive a prorated amount, and substitutes who worked more than half of the school year through March 15 would get up to $1,000. “6.1 is the action to approve for the appreciation stipends that the governor included as part of his FY2026 midterm budget,” the district presenter said as she described the eligibility rules and payroll timing.

Chief finance presenter Dr. Bracken told the board the state is providing $9,900,000 and the district plans to use $7,200,000 of fund balance to cover the remainder, for a total request of $17,100,000. Dr. Bracken said the district expects to process the payments with the April 15 payroll and walked the board through position categories that the state partially funds and those the district is covering so the stipend can reach all employees the district wishes to include.

Board members praised the scope of the plan and its inclusion of lower-paid support staff. “This goes a long way for educators,” Board member Alfred Shibi Brooks said, singling out crossing guards and nutrition staff. Another board member said the administration took care to include populations that previously required later adjustments.

The board moved to approve the stipend item (6.1), and members signaled voice votes in favor; the chair then moved the related budget adjustment (6.2). During discussion the chair asked about fund-balance impact, and Dr. Bracken said the additional fund-balance usage would reduce the district’s planned fund-balance usage to about 11.7% of total expenditures — above the district’s stated 7.5% floor — and noted the district remains about $43,000,000 short of reaching a 15% fund-balance target.

The board approved the budget adjustment and the technical funding motion to allocate state grant dollars and district fund balance to support the stipend payouts. The motions carried by voice vote.

What’s next: The district said it expects to process the stipends on the April 15 payroll. The board’s budget documents and the posted agenda identify the covered employee categories and the specific state allotment counts the state funds; the district will post detailed implementation guidance for employees on its website.