Groveton ISD to institute incentive plan

GROVETON — Teachers in the Groveton school system will have opportunities to make more money under an incentive plan adopted this month by the Board of Trustees.

Superintendent Jim Dillard said the board OK’d the Teacher Incentive Allotment plan at the April 27 meeting. It will be phased in for certain grade levels in the first year, and second year will cover more instructional areas.

The board approved it for 26-27 school year.

“We’re just now initiating it,” Dillard said. “At first, we opted not to do it, because it was based on teacher evaluations and student performance. We realized teachers will be missing out on money and will start the process as soon as possible.”

The TIA plan has three levels — recognized, exemplary and masters. Dillard said each level comes with a different stipend which would be paid on top of their salaries; at the recognized level, they can make $3,000 to $9,000; at the exemplary level, $6,000 to $18,000; and at the masters level, $12,000 to $32,000.

The plan is funded by the state, and first allocations of payments will be distributed in 2028.

In other business, the board:

• discussed the annual intruder detection audit, which had one finding. Dillard said a weekly door sweep log was not completed one week, even though the sweep was done;
• accepted a donation of $4,000 from a gentleman with ties to Groveton (whose name was withheld at his request) to be used for student scholarships, and will be placed into the care of the Groveton Ex-Students Association;
• discussed the honors banquet and graduation. The banquet for the top 10 students will be May 26 in Lufkin, and graduation will be April 29 at the high school gym;
• accepted the resignation of three employees;
• approved a change to the school calendar to make up time for a late start. There was to be early release on April 28, but it now will be a full school day;
• approved the latest library list of books; and
• approved instructional materials allotment and TEKS Certification.