JENNINGS — The Jeff Davis Parish School Board will consider a one-time stipend for certified teachers next month.

The funding is part of $69 million in education funding approved by the state.

Half of it must go to certified classroom teachers as a pay increase, according to Superintendent Brian Lejeune. It will be up to the board to decide how to spend the rest, he said.

“We did receive funding from the state. It is not in the state’s Minimum Foundation Program,” Lejeune said. “It is a line item in the budget itself, so we will have to look at the regulations.

The parish will receive about $800,000 — $400,000 of which will provide one-time stipends of $500 to $700 per certified teacher, he said.

“The way this is written it is a one-time thing,” he said. “They have promised next year it will be in the MFP.”

Among the options being considered is to fund pay increases for other employees or to help with the budget deficit.

School boards across the state are expected to receive final instructions and definitions of terminology on how to distribute the money by June 30.

Lejeune plans to have options for the school board to consider by its July 18 meeting.

(American Press Archives)