Thousands of Pinellas County school employees will get extra pay starting in late October, after the school board on Oct. 14 approved their latest contract agreements.
The board unanimously backed deals for teachers, bus drivers and nonbargaining non-administrative staff, with members saying they wished they could provide even more.
Negotiations continue for the district’s police officer union and for the instructional support employees. All non-administrative staff began collecting supplements provided by the district’s voter-approved property tax referendum earlier in the fall.
The Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association ratified its agreement with the district on Oct. 13, with 65% of participating members supporting the deal, President Lee Bryant said.
Teachers will get a 1% raise plus two $300 bonus payments, in addition to the referendum increase they’re already getting. Combined, their average pay hike is 8.9%.
The agreement also includes changes to the district’s health insurance plan, plus more than 20 revisions to contractual language on work conditions. The retroactive pay should appear in teachers’ Oct. 31 paychecks, human resources director Mike Vigue said.
“This is the best contract we’ve had in 30 years,” Bryant told the board, referring to the changes in terms.
But he harbored concerns over the limited pay increase, made palatable only by the referendum. He noted that teachers earn 78 cents for every dollar professionals with similar credentials in other fields make, and pointed out how inflation has eaten away at their buying power over the past several years.
“We didn’t go into education to get wealthy, but we also didn’t go into education not expecting to be able to pay our mortgage,” Bryant said. “The educators of Florida are getting to the breaking point.”
The board also approved agreements with the SEIU-Florida Public Services Union, which represents employees including bus drivers, and for nonbargaining staff such as cafeteria managers and principal secretaries. Those workers also will get 1% raises and two $150 bonus payments, in addition to the amounts they received from the referendum.
Their back pay is slated to appear in their Nov. 7 checks.
Deputy Superintendent Stephanie Woodford, who leads negotiations for the district, said a deal is near for the district’s police officers. However, she added, the instructional support staff union requested to reopen its contract to review language, so its agreement is further off.
Board members said they appreciated the collaboration between the administration and employee unions that led to the contract updates. Board member Dawn Peters also thanked voters for supporting the property tax referendum that made it possible for the district to offer raises beyond the 0.7% that lawmakers included in their education budget.
“We’re able to give this only because the voters of Pinellas County care about and want to invest in their schools, vis-à-vis our employees,” added Chairperson Laura Hine.