NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Public Schools was awarded a Recruitment Incentive for Public Education (RIPE) Grant through the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).
They were awarded $965,000, which is the highest individual amount awarded to any school division in the state.
The grant allows Norfolk Public Schools to offer 156 of its eligible teachers the opportunity to each receive a $5,000 award, according to a spokesperson with Norfolk schools.
Norfolk Public Schools says award notices went out to qualifying teachers, based on criteria determined by VDOE, last week.
"The Department of Human Resources worked tirelessly to fill vacant positions, including teacher positions," said Chief Human Resource Officer Dandridge Timothy Billups. "I thank my team for a job well done, and I am thrilled that Norfolk Public Schools is able to offer these awards to so many of our deserving teachers."
VDOE announced the RIPE Grant in August, and a special session of the General Assembly appropriated federal funding to support recruitment efforts for school divisions.
Norfolk Public Schools says divisions were required to submit data to the VDOE including the number of "hard-to-staff" and "non-hard-to-staff" vacancies by school for the 2022-2023 school year.
School divisions were required to provide half of the incentive payment to the individual no earlier than Jan. 1 of this year, and to provide the balance of the full amount to the individual no earlier than May 1 of this year, according to Norfolk schools.
Norfolk Public Schools says individuals who received the award must have had a satisfactory performance evaluation and were required to provide a written commitment to return to the same school for the 2023-2024 school year.
