Whitko Community Schools is offering a $100 incentive from federal dollars to all of its employees who get the COVID-19 vaccination.
In an email written to all staff regarding COVID-19 vaccinations, on Friday, Whitko Superintendent Steve Darnell wrote that starting Monday, vaccinations will be available for all K-12 educational personnel.
This creates the opportunity for all staff (teachers, instructional assistants, secretaries, bus drivers, food service, custodians, administrators, etc.) to receive the vaccine as soon as appointments are available, according to a news release from Whitko. As of Friday, the state of Indiana registration website does not reflect “education” as an allowable group to register yet. Perhaps this will not change until Monday, Darnell wrote in his email to all staff.
“I encourage all staff to get the vaccine now that it is available to education personnel if you have not already had it. Here’s the link to the registration page: https://www.coronavirus.in.gov/vaccine/index.htm,” he wrote.
Staff should click on “click here to find a vaccination site and register.” They may register in any county – whatever time and location works best for them.
“As an incentive for getting the vaccination, we will use federal CARES funds to offer a $100 stipend to all employees getting vaccinated. When you have received the full vaccination (either one shot or two depending upon the brand of the vaccine), please turn in a copy of the CDC card showing you are fully vaccinated along a completed claim voucher (attached for your use) to Vicki Camden. The stipend will be processed as additional pay during the next payroll,” Darnell stated in his email.
If a staff member’s appointment for the vaccine takes them away during working hours, they will need to use sick or personal leave time. If they experience side effects from the vaccination, the additional time would be considered an allowable COVID-19 leave time request that would be covered by the federal Department of Labor requirements versus you using sick or personal leave time, he said.
“In addition, we are working with Meijer to schedule onsite clinics for vaccinations at Pierceton Elementary and Whitko Jr.-Sr. High School. When those final arrangements are confirmed, Vicki Camden will share this information with you. It is anticipated that we will have floating subs available for people who need class or work coverage so you may get your vaccine shot and then wait the required observation time before returning to your class/work area on the clinic day. We are working to get this scheduled for a Friday afternoon,” he continued in his email.
Finally, Darnell concluded, “I encourage you to take advantage of the $100 stipend to be vaccinated. Together, as Americans, we can combat this virus directly through following CDC practices and protocols (hand washing, social distancing, use of masks, etc.) including the now available vaccines. Each step we take moves us ALL forward to returning to a broader sense of normalcy we had a year ago.”
