Board opts to adopt Option 2 for instructional-aide pay and to cover special-education licensure fees

The Tomorrow River School District Board of Education voted to adopt “Option 2” for instructional aides after a lengthy discussion about workload, pay equity and the cost of special-education licensure.

Director said the district would pay existing special-education licensure fees for current aides and move to a simpler stipend model going forward. He said covering licensure fees would likely cost “about 15,000” as a rough district estimate for current staff but that precise numbers were needed. “We could do that,” Director said when asked whether license reimbursement was feasible.

Committee members debated whether the district should make the change retroactive for the 2023–24 school year. Staff member said the additional retroactive pay difference between Option 1 and Option 2 was “less than $5,000” based on preliminary calculations, though board members asked for a more precise total before finalizing retroactive payments.

Opponents of a mandatory licensure requirement argued that requiring all regular instructional aides to obtain special-education licensure could change job duties and burden staff. One Committee member said requiring licensure could “throw a bunch of extra work on your plate” and noted some aides had protested a mandatory requirement in earlier discussions.

After considering administrative complexity and retention considerations, Committee member moved to adopt Option 2; the motion passed on a voice vote. The board directed staff to return precise cost estimates — including the cost of any retroactive payments and the total to cover current licensure fees — before final implementation.

Next steps: staff will calculate the exact fiscal impact and report back to the board; the board signaled the change is intended to take effect for the upcoming school year.