Seminole County Schools raises pay after 500 teachers leave

Seminole County Public Schools teachers will get a pay raise for the coming year, after the school board on Wednesday unanimously approved a new contract, as union members say they had nearly 500 teachers not renew from last year to this year. 

The school board approved a new contract with the Seminole Education Association (SEA) that will cover 2024 through 2027; however, the salary is only negotiated for one year. The board also approved contracts with the Seminole Clerical Educational Association and Non-instructional Personnel of Seminole County Board of Public Instruction Association unions for the same time frame.

The raises and bonuses for all three contracts will cost the school board an additional $20 million. 

“This is the fastest we’ve ever turned around and had a contract negotiation done,” said School Board Chair Abby Sanchez. “Our employees … should be able to get some dollars in their pocket before the beginning of the school year.”

The vote was unanimously in favor. School board member Autumn Garick said she wanted to see salaries be raised further next year. 

“Our teachers and staff deserve far more,” Garick said. “I look forward to moving toward that shared goal to support our students by supporting all the people who support our students.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his 2024-25 budget in June, which included an additional $201.8 million in funding for teacher pay. Union officials have said that while Florida’s starting pay for teachers is increasing, Florida’s average teacher salary still ranks 50th in the country. 

In Seminole County for the 2024-25 school year, the starting salary for new teachers has been raised to $50,000, up from $48,500. Additionally, any teacher whose pay is below $50,000 after this year’s pay raises are applied will automatically be bumped up to the $50,000 threshold. 

Pay increases for existing teachers range from $1,253.43 for an effective teacher and $2,149.80 for a highly-effective teacher. 

Additionally, teachers will get a $500 retention bonus to be paid Aug. 16. Employees with 10 or more years of service will get a $1,300 retention bonus, and teachers with more than 20 years’ experience will get a $2,305 bonus. Teachers working at public alternative schools, such as Journeys, Endeavor, Hopper and Eugene Gregory, will also get a $1,000 bonus. 

A notable change to the contract will penalize underperforming teachers: Per state law, if a teacher receives an unsatisfactory annual evaluation, that teacher “will not receive an index salary adjustment for the subsequent year.”

While the contract does last for three years, Seminole Education Association President Thomas Bugos said the union negotiates salaries every year. Additionally, each side can choose three sections of the contract to renegotiate annually. 

Next year, Bugos wants to negotiate benefits and the grievance process. He said he also wants to have that contract signed before summer break, as opposed to shortly before the school year begins.  

“Next year, I want us voting before summer,” Bugos said. “It’s an incentive for people to come back. We had 500 teachers not renew (this year).” SCPS has about 4,000 teachers in total.

Teachers will also see a pay increase for taking on additional students when a substitute teacher can’t be found and students are distributed to other teachers. Teachers can essentially volunteer as a quasi-substitute and get paid the same rate as a substitute would. 

When there aren’t enough volunteers, though, school officials can assign teachers on their planning period to cover classrooms – paying them the equivalent of what a substitute teacher would make. 

“It is not intended to use the assignment process to take the place of hiring substitutes,” the contract states. 

Teacher workdays can now be remote workdays, with principal approval, meaning the teachers could work from home or elsewhere, and in weather emergencies when students have been dismissed and are off-campus, teachers can also work remotely.