Strategic compensation is a part of the district's strategic plan

Contact: Laurie Hogan (336) 370-8307
Created: 2/26/2010 9:51:58 AM

Guilford County Schools staff presented a recommendation to the Board of Education Thursday on a strategic compensation plan. A project team reviewed current salary incentive programs and surveyed employees and the community to develop the plan, which the board will vote on at an upcoming meeting.

The district's strategic plan calls for evaluating and refining a pay structure that recognizes the need to differentiate compensation for hard to fill positions. Since the district's federal funding for its current incentive program, Mission Possible, is expiring in 2010-11, a project team has reviewed ways to continue to provide salary incentives in the district.

The new strategic compensation plan would go into effect in August 2011 if approved by the board. Like the district's current salary incentive programs, the new plan would provide placement incentives to recruit and retain teachers in difficult to staff positions. It also would provide individual performance incentives for faculty who teach in tested subjects.

In addition, the plan would allow for school-wide performance incentives to recognize the efforts of all staff and faculty who contribute to building a positive learning environment for students. Incentives would be available to all staff at qualifying schools based on how well the school performs and the position a staff member holds.

Schools would be selected based on an index, with schools that are historically difficult to staff or have historically underperformed compared to district averages ranking highest. Schools that raise their performance would exit the program on a graduated basis.

In developing the plan, the project team received input from school employees, community members and national experts. If implemented with the 30 schools that participate in the district's current incentive programs, it would cost about $4.4 million each year.

"Our goal through strategic compensation is to recruit and retain teachers in hard to staff positions and see increases in student growth in these areas," said Dr. Shirley Morrison, chief human resources officer. "The recommended plan puts greater emphasis on performance and recognizes some of the hard to staff positions that are not included in our current incentive programs."