The governor, Pedro R. Pierluisi, together with the secretary of the Department of Education (DE), Eliezer Ramos Parés, announced an incentive of $1,500 per quarter for agency employees who have worked since the beginning of the pandemic.
The money comes from federal funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES ACT), available to recognize the attendance, productivity and high performance of public officials who have worked for the benefit of achieve face-to-face classes in the educational system and attend to the academic lag.
The first disbursement is scheduled for November 15, 2022.
“The teaching and non-teaching employees demonstrated their commitment in times of pandemic by giving priority to the education of our children and young people. This effort by these officials made it possible for us to have face-to-face classes with the necessary health and safety measures to guarantee the well-being of the students. Likewise, these employees have been key to launching the different initiatives that we have adopted to address the academic gap. With this incentive, which will be a total of $6,000 per employee at the end of the fiscal year, we are recognizing that hard work, and ensuring that they continue that effort in favor of our minors,” Governor Pierluisi said.
For his part, Secretary Ramos Parés reported that employees will receive a quarterly incentive of $1,500.00 from July 2022 to June 2023 (for a total of four quarters). The incentive does not constitute a fixed increase in staff salary.
“It is important to emphasize that this will be a benefit that is subject to strict compliance with the requirements established by the agency, such as complying with attendance and productivity evaluations, among other elements to consider. Periodically, we will evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative, in case changes to the requirements are necessary. As it is an incentive for a certain time, it is not the recognition of an acquired right of the employees who will benefit from it, but rather an incentive to continue doing the work with efficiency and excellence”, said the Secretary of Education.
The quarterly incentive will be disbursed to all teaching and non-teaching employees of the Department of Education who work full time at the agency. Full-time employees are considered to be those who work under the categories of regular, probationary, transitory appointments, part-time employees (five hours onwards) and irregular employees (five hours onwards).
It was reported that the payment will be exclusively for teaching and non-teaching employees. Employees of the School Food Authority benefit from a separate initiative that is already in place. The employees who will receive the disbursement each quarter must meet all the criteria and requirements that will be detailed through an official communication that will be sent to all Department employees.
Currently, the Department of Education uses $193.5 million of funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) for the repair and renovation of schools. At the moment, some 336 schools with short columns have been repaired, 87 are under repair and three are in the process of being auctioned.