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Clark County schools offers employees 1-time 3 percent payment

Updated August 5, 2018 - 12:23 pm

In an effort to improve employee morale, the Clark County School District will offer all employee unions a one-time payment of approximately 3 percent, the district confirmed Friday night.

“One of (the) priorities of the Board of Trustees and Superintendent (Jesus) Jara is to improve employee morale,” district spokeswoman Kirsten Searer said in a statement. “This offer was made in an effort to resolve all employee compensation or compensation components of open contracts through June 30, 2019.”

The payment would be similar to a bonus and would not change current salary schedules.

Searer said the offer was first made to the bargaining groups in July.

It would be offered to teachers, support staff, administrators, school police officers and school police administrators.

The district would use money it set aside in the spring while it appealed an arbitrator’s decision awarding a raise to teachers to fund the payment.

The district said at the time that the arbitrator’s decision would cost $51.5 million, which was the lion’s share of a $68 million deficit in the 2018-19 budget.

Clouding the outlook was news earlier Friday that a District Court judge upheld the arbitrator’s decision in a contract dispute with the teachers union.

It would cost approximately $50 million to give all employees a 3 percent windfall, so it’s unlikely the money set aside can cover the arbitration award for the teachers and the one-time payment.

As of Friday evening, the district had not decided how to proceed after the ruling.

Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.

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