Cobb schools to pay temporary employees through end of May

Cobb school board teleconference meeting — *Cobb school board members and top district officials met via teleconference Thursday.*

Cobb County School District temporary employees who are out of work during the Coronavirus-prompted school closure will be getting paid through the end of May.

Those are what the district calls “non-permanent” workers—in the nutrition department and after-school program as well as substitute teachers.

The Cobb Board of Education voted Thursday to spend $3.4 million to cover payroll costs for around 2,500 of those workers, who are paid through a different part of the district’s $1.1 billion budget than other employees.

All of the district’s 18,000 salaried and hourly employees—teachers, administrators, bus drivers, nurses, counselors, cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals and others—also are being paid during the school closure, as their pay has already been budgeted in fiscal year 2020, which ends June 30.

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the substitute teachers eligible for the pay have been on board for the last three months.

“We have the ability to take care of our team members and our families and our communities,” he said.

He said district officials are not “taking knee-jerk action” in response to addressing the needs of those who work for the public schools, regardless of their employment status.

Having any sizable number of them without income would have a greater economic impact, since the district is Cobb County’s largest employer.

“I had zero hesitation about this,” Ragsdale said.

He was applauded by school board members who voted later in a 7-0 vote to approve the funding, which will come from the district’s general fund reserves.

The district has a $117 million reserve fund, and it’s not recommended to go below a month’s reserve, which is around $100 milllion.