Scranton School Board discusses financial incentives for teachers to live in city

CHRISTINE LEE, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

Scranton School District officials believe providing financial incentives to teachers living in the city could attract more to work in the district.

At the June 3 personnel committee meeting of the Scranton School Board, Director Tom Borthwick suggested the district provide monetary perks, such as adding a yearly stipend, for new teachers if they live in Scranton.

Tim Wolff, the district's human resources director, said at the meeting anything that has district teachers and staff live in the city would require a memorandum of understanding between the district and the Scranton Federation of Teachers.

The district doesn't mandate that teachers and staff live in the city, but city employees are required to reside in Scranton unless they receive a waiver. City police officers aren't mandated to reside within city limits under their current police union contract, which was achieved last year through arbitration.

Under it, police union members need only live in Lackawanna County and can live outside the county as long as their out-of-county residence is within 25 air miles of City Hall.

Under state law, school districts in Pennsylvania, except those classified as first class and first class A, are not required to mandate employees reside in the district they work in. The Scranton School District, with a student population of nearly 10,000 students during the 2023-24 school year, is a third class school district.

Wolff said residency used to be a factor in the point evaluation system the district used when hiring teachers, with candidates gaining additional points if they lived in the city. He expressed concern that proving residency could limit the number of educators that apply to work in the district.

"We want the best teachers in Scranton ... and there are some concerns it might limit the educator talent pool if we require teachers to live in the city," Wolff said during the meeting.

But he said having teachers live in the city shows they are invested in the community and district.

Borthwick said he understood a financial incentive could be another expense for the district, but it could be beneficial to have teachers live in the city. Director Danielle Chesek agreed.

At that meeting, Superintendent Erin Keating suggested looking at other large school districts like those in Philadelphia or Allentown to see if they have incentives in place that board members could look to for guidance. Director Sean McAndrew agreed.

"We can't make it a requirement, but if someone else is doing it, offering some kind of incentive, it's a good blueprint to possibly look into," he said.

Wolff said he would need to discuss the incentive further with the district's legal team and the teachers union.