A divided school board voted 5-4 Thursday night to withhold proposed one-time cash bonuses for all employees.
The Hamilton County Board of Education several times had publicly discussed the $400 and $500 bonuses to be paid for mostly with excess federal grant money, as well as some of the school system’s general purpose funds.
Most recently the board held a work session last month, where several members said they would prefer the money be spent to extend the life of some grant-funded school-based jobs that otherwise would go away at the end of the school year.
Joe Galloway, who last month said he had been convinced to vote for the bonus, cast his vote against the motion Thursday.
There was an audible gasp in the board room from teachers present when he voted against the bonus.