Highland School Officials Offer $5,000 Sign-On Bonus To New Teacher Hires

Highland County School officials are looking for a few good teachers, so they now are offering a one-time $5,000 sign-on bonus to qualified licensed applicants to come on board.

During its July 10^th monthly meeting, the Highland County School board voted 3 to 0 to offer the bonus, which requires new hires to agree to a 3-year commitment with the school system.

And, if a new hire leaves before the 3-year commitment ends, they would agree to repay the bonus in incremental payments.

The board also voted to seek help from current school employees in their teacher search, offering a one-time $1,000 referral bonus for employees who refer a candidate who is hired. The superintendent and school principals are excluded from this bonus offer because they conduct candidate interviews and are involved in hiring decisions.

The board approvals for teacher recruitment measures followed Board Chairman Jason Wilfong outlining teacher vacancies within the school system. They include teachers for third and fourth-grade classes, middle school English, music, hard trades for welding, carpentry, construction and mechanics and a part-time gifted student instructor.

Wilfong, who cited the county’s rural location and housing shortage, entered the motion to offer the teacher $5,000 sign-on bonus and the board quickly approved the measure with no discussion.

But during the meeting’s board comment period, Board Vice Chairman Sherry Sullenberger suggested developing a teacher recruiting program that goes beyond advertising in the local newspaper or the school system’s website. “I don’t think that our recruitment effort has been strong enough,” she said.

In other action, the board voted to appoint High School Principal Timothy Goode as the interium county superintendent of schools. Goode will temporarily replace former Superintendent Dr. Drew Maerz, who suddenly resigned last month for retirement. The Board also appointed Schools Technology Director Gary Lane as the interim Freedom of Information Act Officer, which is a job usually done by the school superintendent.

In an unrelated move, Wilfong announced that public comment by people attending a school board meeting virtually will no longer be allowed to speak during the public comment period. While virtual comments have been allowed in the past, Wilfong explained they will be discontinued after the board learned such comments violated School Board Policy.

“If somebody is going to address the board, it has to be in person. We’ve actually been violating that for some time now,” Wilfong said, explaining the reasoning for the change. “So, moving forward, we’re going to adhere