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Darlington County Board of Education votes to provide bonus to bus drivers, food service workers
March 20, 2020DARLINGTON, S.C. – The Darlington County Board of Education voted unanimously Friday to give a $100 bonus to all bus drivers and food services employees who are preparing and delivering meal bags to students during the school closures related to coronavirus.
The bonus, which will be $100 net after taxes, will be given to those employees who helped serve food all five days during the first week of closures and will be in addition to their normal pay. The bonus will continue weekly for as long as the food distribution continues, currently at 32 locations across the county.
Dr. Tim Newman, superintendent of the Darlington County School District, proposed the bonus in order to recognize the extra work and effort the district’s bus drivers and food service workers have taken on.
“This is a way for us to let them know that we understand they are doing the heavy lifting right now. They are our superstars during this crisis,” Newman said. “They are going above and beyond for our children, and they deserve to be compensated for their efforts.”
Beginning the week of March 23, the food distribution will shift from occurring every weekday to occurring on Mondays and Wednesdays only. Monday’s bags will contain breakfast, lunch and snacks for Monday and Tuesday, while Wednesday’s bags will contain food for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
