Tentative agreement must be ratified first by employees in December; if approved, it will be considered by the School Board on Jan. 3
Teachers and support staff — such as classroom aides, bus drivers and cafeteria workers — in the Sarasota County School District are expected to receive a 4% raise retroactive to July 1, the start of the district’s fiscal year, as a result of contract negotiations that recently concluded, the district has announced.
The new annual starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree will be $42,000, a news release points out.
The negotiating teams for the School Board and the Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association reached an agreement on Nov. 18, the release says.
In addition to the financial aspects of the negotiations, the release continues, the parties have agreed that all School Board property — including buildings, grounds and vehicles on district land — will be tobacco-free, the release points out. Previously, some schools had designated smoking areas outside the view of students, the release notes.
The final agreement must be ratified by the employees and approved by the School Board before it can take effect, the release says. Bargaining unit employees are scheduled to vote on ratification of the contract on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 13 and 14. If they approve it, the contract will be on the agenda for School Board approval at the board’s regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 3, the release notes.
Although the agreement covers bargaining unit employees only, the School Board traditionally has extended pay raises to school-based and district-level administrators, the release adds.
The 4% is not a raise. The agreement clearly states it is a ONETIME payment of 4%…huge difference.
Editor’s Note: The information provided by the Sarasota County Schools clearly indicated that this was a continuing raise of 4%, not a one-time payment. The new starting salaries for teachers were adjusted accordingly, and mentioned in our article. If this commenter has some evidence to support his claim that the raises are one-time and not ongoing, we would be happy to review it.