Allen Parish school employees will be getting separate supplement pay increases in December and January.

The School Board voted Monday to use more than $2 million from local sales taxes and general fund revenues to provide the salary supplements to its 650 employees. Excess revenue from a one-cent sales tax dedicated to salaries and other operating expenses, state stipends and general fund revenues will make up the supplements.

The first supplement will be paid in December, with two supplements to follow in January.

“I know this will be accepted very well by our employees,” Superintendent Brad Soileau said.

Degreed employees including classroom teachers and administrators will get $3,500 in December from the parish’s Sales Tax Salary Enhancement Fund, which was approved by voters. Non-degree employees including custodians, cafeteria workers and secretaries will receive $2,500.

A second salary supplement from the salary enhancement fund and the general fund will be distributed in January with teachers and other degreed employees receiving $2,000. School support staff and other non-degreed employees will receive $1,000.

School board members will not receive the supplements.

It is important to get the supplements to employees because living expenses are continuing to rise, Soileau said.

“I think people are at a time of struggling and anytime you can give someone extra funding through this sales tax and a general fund surplus and also include money from the state, it helps them,” he said.

In all, school employees have received three supplements this year with degreed employees receiving more than $8,700. Non-degreed employees were awarded more than $5,270.

Soileau said he is grateful that the school board has been able to continue to fund the supplements despite the loss of gaming compact revenues from the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. The tribe withdrew its funding to local agencies.

Under the agreement, the tribe provided the school district with $1.2 million for salaries with additional funding for curriculum and school projects, including repairs to schools without adequate maintenance funds.

“Without the Coushatta (Tribe) funds and what we did this year with the money we had left over from last year, we were practically able to give the same amount of money without the money that we received from the Coushatta in the past,” Soileau said. “I think what we did this year was just outstanding and I thank the board for that. Hopefully we can continue that next year, but for now we are just taking it from year to year.”

He said the board will continue to review its surplus funding as well as increases in insurance costs and other spending to try to continue to fund future supplements.