Last week, the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Board of Trustees approved a resolution allowing for recruitment and retention incentives to attract new, highly qualified teachers, as defined by Chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code, and retain current teachers, aides, counselors, assistant principals, transition specialists, nurses, Licensed Specialists in School Psychology (LSSP), behavior specialists, and school-based therapists and managers.

The full details and payment schedule related to the incentives listed below are laid out in the Board resolution.

New Hire Incentives

In addition to competitive salaries, newly-hired teachers, full-time and part-time therapists and therapy assistants will receive a one-time recruitment incentive, as shown below, and as laid out in the Board resolution.

Teacher Referral Incentive

As part of this resolution, current HCDE employees may receive a one-time teacher referral incentive of $500. To qualify, current employees must not be on the HCDE Leadership Team. They must also refer a full-time Chapter 21 teacher, who is hired to work at Academic and Behavior School East, Academic and Behavior School West, Fortis Academy, or Highpoint School East, and remains employed by HCDE through June 9, 2023. If both criteria are met, teacher referral incentives will be paid with the June 15, 2023, payroll.

Learn more about HCDE at hcde-texas.org and find open positions and job descriptions at hcdetexas.tedk12.com/hire.