Every Leopard, Every Day We value our faculty and staff here at GISD!
Staff Recognition Each month, campus administration celebrates one teacher and one employee of the month for their campus. These individuals are in turn nominated for the District Employee/Teacher of the Month. A committee reviews the nominations and selects one employee, one elementary teacher, and one secondary teacher for district recognition. All of the teachers nominated are then eligible to be considered for campus and district teacher of the year! In order to give more opportunities to celebrate our awesome staff, we began awarding “Leopard High Fives”. These awards are given throughout the year to dedicated faculty and staff who go above and beyond for GISD. These nominees model our core beliefs: Equity, Excellence, Diversity, Innovation, Partnership, Safe and Comfortable Environment. Nominations are accepted from fellow staff members, parents, students, and community members. There is no set limit on how many awards can be given, but typically each month there are roughly 50 smiling faces receiving a high five from Dr. Stewart. Although not as “official” as an employee or teacher of the month, these awards have become very meaningful to those receiving as well as those who are able to take part in the nomination process.
Employee Incentives Gainesville ISD has been awarded funding from the Texas Education Agency to prevent, prepare for, and respond to needs identified as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund provides GISD the opportunity to address needs such as learning loss of students, social emotional needs of students and staff, and the health and safety needs of our students, staff, and visitors to our campuses. GISD has opted to allocate a small amount, roughly 8.9% of the total allotted funding, to retention and retainment stipends to assist in maintaining staffing within GISD. These stipends are available to employees in several ways. Retention stipends will be paid in increments to those staff who were employed with the district for the entirety of the 2020-2021 school years. These stipends will be paid out at the end of each semester, beginning December 2021, for four semesters, as long as the eligible employee is still employed with the district. Additional incentives are being paid to staff who maintain perfect attendance. Due to the shortage of substitutes, and the overall importance of having a consistent presence of teachers and staff on campus, all staff who maintain perfect attendance for a six-week period are eligible to win a cash prize and even a 75-inch TV! Every six weeks, the names of all eligible staff are entered into a random drawing, and approximately 80 staff are awarded a cash prize and three employees are awarded a TV. At GISD, we truly believe in Every Leopard, Every Day! We value our students and our staff every day! Winter 2021 • Gainesville SPOTlight •
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