Last week, the SC/TA received official notification from the superintendent that the school district was in the midst of a “financial urgency requiring immediate Action.”
Under Florida Statute 447, the state collective bargaining laws, the public agency (our school district) may advise the local union of a financial crisis and demand bargaining for a period not to exceed 14 days — after which, if not resolved, the impasse would proceed to the more lengthy statutory impasse proceedings, where the district could ultimately impose any settlement of their liking on the employees.
The superintendent’s letter states the following:
“Accordingly, the District intends to negotiate over the impact of the following:
1. Medical plan design, including contribution structures, coverage options, and cost-containment.
2. The structure, eligibility criteria, and funding level of needs-based (ESE, Title I) supplements.
There are many factors that have brought us to where we are today. Perhaps the most significant is the constant loss of students to now publicly funded options, like charter schools and private and home school vouchers.
During the 2016-17 school year, our district enrolled 36,699 students. For the 2026-27 school year, we are projected to have 36,648 students enrolled, or slightly fewer than 10 years ago!
In spite of that, the district’s total staffing has gone from 5,370 to 5,853, a 9% increase in the face of no student growth. Needless to say, our salaries have increased during that period as well. For that, we do not apologize.
We know our members want us to maintain district-paid health insurance options that are of no cost to the employee. That will be our primary goal in this round of impact bargaining.
This benefit is becoming rarer around the state. We also want to make sure any changes in the ESE and Title supplements are not effective this school year, as those staff members have already been promised those supplements for this school year.
We have cleared our schedules for next week so that we can get this bargaining done as quickly as possible and not to let it drag on. Whatever agreement we reach will be voted on by the members of the instructional and classified bargaining units, just as with any contract ratification.
The way the statute is constructed, we are bargaining under duress. But I still remain hopeful we can find a satisfactory resolution that will allow us to move into the future and retain our place as the highest paid staff in the state.