Land O’ Lakes, FL – (August 26, 2013) – Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning and United School Employees Union of Pasco President Lynne Webb announce that the two sides have reached agreement on 2013-2014 contracts for teachers and school-related personnel, providing for salary increases to both units and raising the beginning teacher salary to $37,000.
The almost $9,600,000 in teacher salary increases will be provided as follows:
a. All teachers, regardless of the number of years of continuous service as a Pasco teacher, will receive a base increase of $580.00.
b. Teachers with one (1) year of continuous service as a Pasco teacher as of July 1, 2013, will receive an additional increase of one share, $310 beyond the base, bringing the total increase to $890.
c. Teachers with two (2) years of continuous service as a Pasco teacher as of July 1, 2013, will receive an additional increase of two shares, $620 beyond the base, bringing the total increase to $1200.
d. Teachers with three (3) years of continuous service as a Pasco teacher as of July 1, 2013, will receive an additional increase of three shares, $930 beyond the base, bringing the total increase to $1510.
e. Teachers with four (4) years of continuous service as a Pasco teacher as of July 1, 2013, will receive an additional increase of four shares, $1240 beyond the base, bringing the total increase to $1820.
f. Teachers with five (5) or more years of continuous service as a Pasco teacher as of July 1, 2013, will receive an additional increase of five shares, $1550 beyond the base, bringing the total increase to $2130.
g. Teachers with twenty-seven (27) years or more of credited teaching experience as of July 1, 2013, will receive an additional increase of six shares, $1860 beyond the base, bringing the total increase to $2440.
The agreement further states that the intent is that no newly hired teacher or teacher transferring into the district will receive a salary higher than a currently-employed Pasco teacher with an equivalent number of creditable years.
As part of their roughly $2,800,000 settlement, SRP employees will receive step increases, and many also will benefit from additional improvements to the SRP salary schedules. Examples of the SRP raises will not be available until the 30-plus salary schedules are finalized. All SRP will receive raises even though the state did not provide categorical funds like it did for the teachers.
The contracts are contingent upon union member ratification and school board approval, which are scheduled for September.
“My priority has been to settle the salary question as early as possible to assure that our staff receives the pay increases they’ve been waiting six years to get,” said Superintendent Browning.
“We were determined to reward those employees who have stayed loyal to the district over the years – especially during the economic downturn. They’ve earned the right to be paid more than someone who just got hired,” said USEP President Lynne Webb.
In one of the earliest contract settlements in recent memory, the agreement also provides for increases in certain supplements and differentials. The district also will contribute an additional $552,000 towards employee health insurance benefit costs, and continue to pay employee fingerprint retention fees. In addition, the district will move entirely to direct deposit, eliminating paper checks, effective January 1, 2014.
With respect to retirement, beginning with employees hired after January 1, 2014, the district will discontinue providing retiree monthly health insurance benefits. Existing employees and retirees will not be affected. The district and USEP also will establish a joint taskforce to examine the district’s early retirement plan.
The sides agreed on three items related to teacher evaluations, including the following:
a. Summative score thresholds were modified to make the “Highly Effective” summative rating more attainable.
b. Administrators will be making shorter unscored informal visits to teachers’ classrooms to provide formative feedback designed to improve instruction and assist teachers in performing better on scored formal observations.
c. Administrators also will be providing non-evaluative feedback to teachers on Domains 2, 3, and 4.
The school district and union already had announced agreement on two additional Professional Learning Community training days, to be paid out of grant funds. Another item related to the district’s move toward the Professional Learning Community (PLC) calls for the district to move to the PLC approach for implementation of the Common Core State Standards.
In order to keep insurance costs in line and promote wellness, the district will replace the $150 flex benefit with up to $250 per year to employees who complete their Health Risk Assessment through the district’s Health and Wellness Centers, attend their follow-up appointment, and participate in other follow-up activities. The district also will provide all employees with $87,500 of additional no-cost life insurance.
After accounting for salary and benefit improvements, the two additional professional development days for teachers, and almost $8,500,000 in increased employer-paid retirement contributions and other employer paid benefits like Social Security, the district will be investing almost $25,000,000 of additional funding in its employees for 2013-2014.
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