PELHAM – For the third year in a row, Pelham City Schools surprised its teachers and support staff with extra compensation checks on the morning of Monday, Dec. 11.

Pelham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Coefield said hand delivering the checks to teachers is probably his favorite thing to do as superintendent.

Although this is the school system’s third year giving extra compensation, the Board of Education and Coefield did not announce when they were distributing them or how much the checks would be this year.

Some of the district’s BOE members accompanied Coefield to hand out the checks.

“It really boosts morale and more than anything it shows our teachers and support staff that we appreciate them,” Coefield said. “Working in the school system is not easy. Our teachers and support staff work extremely hard and this is a small token to say thank you.”

Coefield said all PCS employees except for the Chief Financial Officer and himself received a compensation check. The school system employs about 235 certified staff and about 140 support staff.

The Board of Education set aside $175,000 in its budget to cover the cost of the compensation checks. Coefield said certified staff received $500 and noncertified staff received $250.