Faced with a worker shortage, Vail Unified School District will pay signing, attendance and retention bonuses to groundskeepers and maintenance technicians.
The district board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the incentive program after being told 63% of Vailβs groundskeeper positions are unfilled and 27% of its maintenance technician slots are vacant, while there are β1,230 open work orders that need to be completed at school sites across the district.β
βDue to the number of outstanding work orders, there are times when maintenance staff members are working on repairs in specific areas such as electrical, plumbing, etc., without the needed background,β the board was told.
The shortages persist even though Vail recently raised hourly starting pay for the workers, administrators told the board.
New hires in those categories will receive $200 when they complete training, $200 after 90 days of work and completing 50 work orders, and $200 after 180 days of employment and completing 100 work orders.
Returning workers will receive a $500 bonus at the end of the fiscal year and will get a $50 incentive for each month with no absences, up to $150 a quarter.
Vail expects the package to cost the district a total of $36,400 this fiscal year.
The district on the Tucson areaβs southeast side has more than 14,000 K-12 students enrolled in 22 schools, its website says.
