Negotiators for Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco have hammered out a deal that includes pay raises and increased instructional planning time. But it also calls for the end of smoking on all district properties and for the end of a district early retirement program.
Teachers and school-related employees, on average, would receive a 3 percent increase under the proposal, union president Kenny Blankenship said.
Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’
Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’
Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’
Kenny Blankenship says the pay raises in the proposed contract between Pasco County Schools and the United School Employees of Pasco are ‘among the best in the state.’
“That’s one of the best in the state,” he said.
The proposed contract also calls for increasing teachers’ instructional planning time from the current 100 minutes a day, to 150. The increased planning time probably is the most significant item in the agreement, Blankenship said.
“Our teachers really need it with all of the changes that we’ve been going through,” Blankenship said.
The proposed contract also calls for the end of smoking on district properties, effective July 1, 2016. It’s a provision Superintendent Kurt Browning says is important to the school district.
“We want a healthier work force, and we felt very strongly that that was a way to at least move in that direction,” Browning said.
There’s time between now and when the policy takes effect that will give employees a chance to participate in smoking cessation programs, the superintendent added. Beyond employee health, the district thought that allowing smoking at its sites sent a mixed message.
The ban on smoking is in keeping with similar bans in public places across the nation, Blankenship said.
“That’s probably an idea that’s come to its time,” he said.
Another portion of the proposed contract calls for eliminating new entrants to the district’s early retirement program, effective June 30, 2018.
By having that program phased out, Browning said, the district can use the $1.6 million typically spent there for other purposes.
The people currently participating in the program will not be affected,” Blankenship said. Those who qualify and opt to take advantage of the program still have some time to do so.
Both sides have agreed to create a compensation task force that will talk about proposed changes to how teachers are paid. The options being considered are teachers receiving 20 paychecks during the 10-month teacher work year, with five checks paid on the last teacher work day, and a last check two weeks later; or teachers receiving 26 equal paychecks, paid out every two weeks year round.
Another plus of the proposed contract, Blankenship said, is that there’s still a free health care plan option available for employees.
All together the district is providing almost $12 million of new funding toward employee compensation and benefits, according to a district news release.
A general settlement explanation meeting open to all bargaining unit members is scheduled for Jan. 13, where union building representatives will vote whether to recommend the settlement to the full bargaining unit. A ratification vote has been scheduled for Jan. 14.
Provided that the settlement is ratified, the Pasco County School Board is schedule to vote on Jan. 20.
Any applicable retroactive pay should be reflected in paychecks by the end of February.
Published December 17, 2014
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