Moniteau DME

CHERRY TWP — Moniteau School District board directors proposed that full-time faculty and staff receive a $500 bonus using pandemic funds at a meeting Monday, Aug. 28.

While it had been agreed upon two years ago, official action had not been taken on the issue, board member Michael Baptiste said.

“(We) wanted to make sure the district had enough in the (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund) account,” board president Michael Panza said.

Previously, the one-time bonus was reserved for full-time faculty, but Panza motioned to amend the proposed bonus to include all district staff members.

Panza said staff will receive the bonus sometime in October. The bonus is made possible with a federal grant known as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, Baptiste said.

Board directors also approved a 2.3% raise for superintendent Aubrie Schnelle for the 2023-24 school year, upping her pay to $135,915. Schnelle was hired in November 2021 at a starting salary of $130,000, Panza said. He added that her contract allows for up to a 2.5% raise and is based on an evaluation of her performance. She received a 2.1% raise in 2022.

Board directors announced that a dedication ceremony for the Luciano Plesakov Stadium will take place on Friday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m.

In June, Moniteau’s athletic field was renamed after a 1965 Moniteau High School graduate and U.S. Marines corporal who was killed in action in Vietnam just two years after he graduated, board director Mark DeMatteis said. The event will feature Slippery Rock borough’s Grand Old Flag and is open to the public, he said.