School Board, Teachers Union Reach Agreement

Most employees in the Sarasota teachers union will receive a one-year bonus in lieu of raises thanks to an agreement reached between the and the Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association.

The agreement, which the two sides agreed to late Friday afternoon, will provide a supplemental one-year bonus for most employees for the 2012-2013 school year. It also provides for aides who will be hired after July 1, 2012, to work fewer days than those currently employed.

While some employees will receive a bonus, raises will not be awarded. For the second year in a row, employees will not receive step increases for years of service. For the fourth consecutive year, employees will not receive a cost-of-living raise as an addition to the district salary schedules. 

While the teachers will not receive raises, it keeps with the school board's promise to not slash teacher salaries.

The agreement provides most employees a bonus of 3 percent of Step 0 of the employees’ salary schedule, according to Sarasota County Schools. Step 0 is lower than an employee’s starting salary. The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree in Sarasota County is $38,997.

For that reason, the effective rate of the average bonus will be 2.2 percent, according to the school system. The increase in the Consumer Price Index in both 2011 and 2012 was 2.7 percent. Employees who receive a longevity pay increase will not receive the 3 percent bonus.

The one-time bonus will not be an addition to the district salary schedule.

New teacher aides will work fewer days next year. Aides currently work 196 days a year. The settlement provides for aides hired after July 1 to work a 186-day schedule. Because aides have a wide variety of responsibilities, the number of days those on a current 196-day contract may need to work when students are not present may be different for different positions.

The school district will analyze over the 2012-2013 school year to determine which positions can be reduced by what number of days to reduce costs without having an adverse effect on services to students.

that within the $23 million that could be saved by the school board, $3.1 million could be saved over the course of three years if certain positions were cut.

Eliminating some non-teaching staff such as behavior specialists were considered by consultant MGT as it recommended eliminating 10 percent of non-teaching positions, which equates to nine positions, to save $634,905 a year.

Guidance counselors would be excluded, but included would be behavior specialists, high school scheduling/testing coordinator, English Language Learner teacher trainers, English for Speakers of Other Languages position, Exceptional Student Education liaisons, program specialists, social worker positions and administrative interns

District negotiator Art Hardy said all parties involved are pleased to have reached an agreement before the end of the school year so staff will know their situation before they leave for the summer.

The School Board must approve the contract agreement, and employees must ratify the agreement as well.