Negotiations

September 4, 2025 - The MEA Bargaining team members which included MEA chief negotiator Bruce Proud, Pat Barber, Valerie Finnegan, Helen King, Brian Kirchberg, Rob Lyons, Jon Syre, Evelyn Townsley and Dawn Walker met at the School Support Center for the fourth time on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, with management’s bargaining team members which included the District’s chief negotiator Mark West, Christina Britton, Silvana Ianinska, Derek Jensen, Joanna Keovilay, Gina Maliniak,  Kevin Pendley, Sharon Scarbrough and Rachel Sellers.

Bruce began saying that he has concerns after being told during the last bargaining session that there was no more money. He said he had reviewed all the documents, looked at the district’s financial reports, looked at the Legislative reports as well as what is going on with other districts. He said his concerns are related to the significant reserves in the general fund as well as the money being carried forward from the Instructional function of the budget.

He said that in looking at the final budget in ’20-’21 the final budget went up $13-14 million, which is a considerable amount of money. Some was transferred from Special Funds. The actual expenditure was $8 million less and $30 million less in Instructional. Bruce showed that the reserves had grown to $120 million at the end of ’24-’25 and was projected to still have $60 million in the ’25-’26 budget. What happened? What caused the budget to grow?

Bruce went on to say that it wouldn’t be normal to talk about digging into reserves, but he has looked around the state at other budgets - this is not the norm. “I am pretty sure you wouldn’t be cutting staff with these reserves,” he said.

He said he knows the state requires districts to maintain 3% of their budgets in their reserves. The school board wants 5% according to their policy and wishes for 8%. The Board ended the last fiscal year with 21% and projected 9% for ’25-’26.

Budget Director Gina Maliniak and Deputy Superintendent Rachel Sellers explained that the district had high vacancies last year and average teacher positions cost $77,000 (with benefits). This year the teacher allocation was increased by 50, so $5.8 million would be needed from reserves.

The discussion continued regarding the increase in the fund balance with Gina providing information and Bruce asking further questions.

Bruce said that the numbers still don’t add up. This is what causes Legislators to be concerned and believe that districts have a lot of money.

Bruce also presented a document that showed how Manatee ranks in average teacher salary in comparison to comparable districts. He said it is unknown whether or not districts include the referendum when reporting their salaries to the Florida Department of Education (DOE); however, based on this report Manatee is last among the 11 comparable districts. Bruce said even small counties like Hardee and DeSoto recognize the importance of rewarding employees.

Mark West said if you have a proposal, we will look at it.

Bruce outlined the MEA proposal which included a new placement schedule for those newly hired teachers, salary increase of 6%, degree supplements increase of 6%, increase supplements by 6% and continue retention supplements at 16+ and 25+. For paras we are continuing our proposals for step plus $.70 and adding a retention supplement at 10+ years in the district.

Bruce added that for health insurance, we believe the district should pick up the full increase in premium which equates to the amount the district saved by not paying premium for those who did not participate.

The district raised concerns about rising costs. Employees also have concerns about their costs. The latest Consumer Price Index in the Tampa area is 3.3%.

After a caucus, Mark said there are significant differences in the proposals. He said that they are not going to be able to respond and will do their best to meet with the new leadership and the School Board between now and September 18, 2025.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:46 p.m.

Further details can be found by reading the minutes of each session which will be posted here on the MEA website once approved by both MEA and management.

The next bargaining session will be Thursday, September 18, 2025, at the SSC located at 215 Manatee Ave. W. starting at 5:30 p.m.

In solidarity,

The MEA Bargaining Team

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August 22, 2025 - The MEA Bargaining team members which included MEA chief negotiator Bruce Proud, Pat Barber, Valerie Finnegan, Helen King, Brian Kirchberg, Rob Lyons, Jon Syre and Dawn Walker met for the third time Thursday, August 21st  at the School Support Center with management’s bargaining team members which included the District’s chief negotiator Mark West, Christina Britton, Silvana Ianinska, Derek Jensen, Joanna Keovilay, Gina Maliniak, Cathy Milley, Kevin Pendley, Sharon Scarbrough and Rachel Sellers.

Christina Britton, Executive Director of Human Resources, presented the Health Insurance Committee’s recommendation for dealing with a 7.2% increase equaling $4.4 million in health insurance funding needed to keep the plan solvent for the 2026 plan year. She explained that the recommendation included changes to the benefits (deductibles, out of pocket limits, copays, etc.) that vary from plan to plan (Bronze, Silver and Gold) as well as a 5.5% increase to the Employee and Employer premiums. The premium increases range from $2 per paycheck for the single Bronze plan to $63 per paycheck for the Gold family plan. The full proposal for premium and plan changes is attached.

Bruce asked how much was saved by making the plan changes. Christina said $1 million was saved. Bruce reminded management that the savings to the plan from changes in the plan benefits shift the amount saved to out of pocket expenses for the employees – the people who use the plan.

Concerns were raised by Bruce about the declining number of employees participating in the health insurance plan. He pointed out that there are 1,000 employees not on the plan which saves the district $1 million in plan premiums. He asked what the district does with that money.

Christina said that it goes back into the fund. Bruce said that the plan documents do not show that that is what has happened, and the district is saving $1 million. What does the district do with that money?

Rachel Sellars said it goes in the plan and Bruce disputed that statement and asked for something that shows that it goes in the plan.

Mark West moved to addressing MEA’s initial salary proposal for teachers and paraprofessionals. Management’s team had reviewed MEA salary proposals and asked questions about how parts of the proposal would work. They asked about the Placement Schedule and provided their calculations of the parts of MEA’s teacher salary proposal and expressed concern that the proposal far exceeded the money they had available for bargaining.

In addition, Mark said the para proposal for 1 step would cost $331,145 and the proposal to raise each step by $.70 would cost $807,893 when benefits are included.  He also added that these proposals were beyond the $540,000 the District team is authorized to offer.

Bruce said he would obviously like to see the data used for the calculations since it appears that some employees are included twice in the calculations.

Mr. West then distributed the District salary proposals including a Teacher hiring schedule that begins at $49,702 (current starting salary) and continues through level 9c with a 0.15% difference between each level.  The District also proposed a salary increase of 2.5% for all eligible teachers on the Performance or Grandfathered salary schedules.  Also included in the proposal was the cost for Retention supplements for Teachers newly eligible at 16+ years and 25+ years.

The District did not propose increases in the Performance schedule degree supplements, any new Retention supplements or increases in Differentiated/Supplemental schedule positions.

For Paras, the District proposed advancement of one step on the schedule for eligible paras and an increase of fifteen cents per hour ($0.15/hr).

Bruce asked questions about the district’s proposals for teachers including how they calculated information contained in their proposal such as the amount for performance pay ($50/$63), how many people it was based on, how they arrived at $5 million, etc.

He then moved on to the para proposal and explained that with step and an increase of $0.15/hr, five hundred (500) people would be taking home less pay than they were making previously. This proposal will not encourage employees to sign up for the plan or retain employees. He said he was trying to figure out the motivation for the proposal based on the health insurance and the pay.

Bruce raised the issue of how much money the district is willing to provide for raises. From what he could see the district is barely providing increases that are required under the state’s Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA) dollars earmarked for teachers, which is $3.7 million. Mark said that was all he had the authority to provide. Bruce challenged the district over only providing $3.7M for teachers when they have $61,000,000 in reserves. The district has carried over a large amount of money in reserves despite pressure from the state not to carry over money year after year.

The meeting adjourned 9:38 p.m.

The minutes of each session which will be posted once approved by both MEA and management.

The next bargaining sessions will be Tuesday, September 2, 2025, and Thursday, September 18, 2025 at the SSC located at 215 Manatee Ave. W. starting at 5:30 pm.

In solidarity,

The MEA Bargaining Team

Bargaining 082125

Management money proposal 082125

Management Proposal Health Insurance Committee Recommendation 082125

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August 14, 2025 - The MEA bargaining team members which included MEA chief negotiator Bruce Proud, Pat Barber, Valerie Finnegan, Helen King, Brian Kirchberg, Rob Lyons, Jon Syre, Evelyn Townsley and Dawn Walker met for the second time Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at the School Support Center with management’s bargaining team members which included the District’s chief negotiator Mark West, Christina Britton, Silvana Ianinska, Derek Jensen, Gina Maliniak, Cathy Milley, Sharon Scarbrough and Rachel Sellers.

MEA chief negotiator Bruce Proud presented a proposal for both teachers and paraprofessionals aimed at continuing to deal with compression and providing financial recognition for experience for all members of MEA bargaining units.

MEA’s initial proposal for teachers included

• a 6% pay increase for all eligible teachers (those who worked 99 days or more in ’24-’25),
• continuing the retention supplement at 16+ years ($2,100) and 25+ years ($3,600) of Manatee County schools teaching experience respectively,
• adding a new supplement for those with +10 years ($1,000) of Manatee County schools teaching experience and
• a proposal to add 6% to all supplements on the supplement schedule.

MEA initial para proposal included

• step movement for all eligible paras (those who worked 99 days or more in ’24-’25),
• a $.70 raise (COLA) added to each step,
• and the addition of a longevity supplement for those who have worked as a para in the Manatee County schools for 10+ years ($1,000) and 20+ years ($1,500).

The bargaining teams also had extensive discussions regarding the ’25-’26 Referendum Supplement for teachers and paraprofessionals. There was discussion of factors that had impacted the rollover amount that was credited to teachers and paras from ’24-’25 and available for inclusion in the supplements for ’25-’26. That amount was lower than it had been in the past due to:

• only collecting 94% of the expected tax collection,
• the 2% commission held back by the Manatee County Tax Collector, and
• the lowering of the appraised home values by $1 billion by the Property Appraiser.

MEA’s and Management’s bargaining teams discussed the impact of those factors on the money available for the teachers’ and paras’ referendum supplement and whether there would be a decrease in the supplement for ’25-’26 or whether the Board would add money above the previously agreed upon 51% for teachers and 5% for paraprofessionals in order to keep the supplement amounts the same for this year.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the ’25-’26 Referendum Supplement shows that it was agreed that there would be no reduction in the supplements. In addition, the first payment for the referendum supplement will be on the August 22nd paycheck. The MOU shows all the information that went into calculating the teachers’ and paras’ supplements for both the ’24-’25 and the ’25-’26 work years.

The chief bargaining spokesman for management’s team, Mark West, closed by saying that MEA’s proposal went beyond what the Board had provided for negotiations. They would look at the proposals carefully and collect data to accurately cost everything out prior to the next bargaining session.

The meeting adjourned 9:30 pm.

The minutes of each session which will be posted once approved by both MEA and management.

The next bargaining session will be Thursday, August 21, 2025 at the SSC located at 215 Manatee Ave. W. starting at 5:30 pm.

In solidarity,

The MEA Bargaining Team

Bargaining 081325

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Tuesday, August 12, 2025 - The MEA bargaining team is scheduled to meet with the district bargaining team on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, and Thursday, August 21, 2025, beginning at 5:45 pm at the School Support Center, 215 Manatee Ave. W. in room 203.

All negotiations are open to the public, and anyone is welcome to come to observe.

In solidarity,

The MEA Bargaining Team

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July 31, 2025 - The MEA Bargaining team members which included MEA chief negotiator Bruce Proud, Pat Barber, Valerie Finnegan, Helen King, Brian Kirchberg, Rob Lyons, Jon Syre and Dawn Walker met Wednesday, July 30th at the School Support Center with management’s bargaining team members which included the District’s chief negotiator Mark West, Christina Britton, Silvana Ianinska, Derek Jensen, Gina Maliniak, Joe Ranaldi, Sharon Scarbrough and Rachel Sellers.

The focus of this session was discussion of the School Board’s tentative budget (spending plan) for fiscal year ’25-’26. Rachel Sellers, Deputy Superintendent of Business Services, provided the teams with a brief overview of the Board’s tentative budget, which was adopted on Tuesday, July 29th. Rachel Sellers started by telling the bargaining teams that the Property Appraiser had lowered his assessment of property values by $1 billion from June to July. She also reported that beginning in November 2024, without notice, the Tax Collector began taking 2% commission out of the 1 mill referendum.

She then included information about the funding received from the Legislature, increased cost of FRS benefits passed on by the Legislature, the reserves maintained by the School Board, plans to move expenses from the referendum to the General Fund to accommodate the new programs added to the referendum, transfer of funds to Charter schools due to projected increased enrollment as well as projected increase in health insurance costs.

Bruce Proud followed up on Rachel Sellers presentation by reminding management that MEA has raised concerns in bargaining about the Board moving programs from the referendum to the General Fund for several years. The concern is continuing to shift programs back before you know what the General Fund is and putting pressure on the General Fund. The referendum is not stable, and if the Board moves the money to the General Fund, there will not be money for other things.

He then asked what the reserves were spent for since that fund went from $120 million at the close of the ’24-’25 fiscal year to $65 million in the tentative budget.

Rachel Sellers said part was transferred into training. Marc West pointed out that the need was generated by the Federal hold back of Title 2 funds which pay for teacher training.

She said a big part of the money moved from reserves was related to restricted programs and allocations.

There was also a brief discussion of what issues the parties would bring to the table and it was agreed that those would be restricted to Article XII (salaries and benefits) at this time.

Details can be found by reading the minutes of each session which will be posted on the MEA website once approved by both MEA and management.

Future dates for negotiations are coming soon.

In solidarity,

The MEA Bargaining Team

Bargaining 073025

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Monday, July 28, 2025 - The MEA bargaining team is scheduled to meet with the district bargaining team on July 30, 2025, at 4:00 pm at the School Support Center, 215 Manatee Ave. W. in room 203.

This will be the opening of contract negotiations for the teacher and para contracts for 2025-2026. This is a limited reopener negotiations; therefore, not all articles will be open for negotiations.

All negotiations are open to the public, and anyone is welcome to come to observe.

Below you will find a summary of the priorities captured from the responses from the Bargaining Surveys conducted in May.

Complete bargaining survey results:  

The MEA bargaining team will post updates after each session including future bargaining dates.

July 17, 2025

MEA and the District have reached an agreement on the pay schedule for teachers and paraprofessionals for the ’25-’26 work year.

This agreement includes,

• a “skinny check” for 10-month employees for 5 days will be paid on August 8, 2025
• 26 equal payroll distributions paid from August 22, 2025 - August 7, 2026
• end of the need to negotiate “skinny checks” in future years due to the new pay cycle
• the district will again deduct an equal amount of “Paid Not Earned” (PNE) from each paycheck to show the repayment of the money advanced for the “skinny check.”

Also agreed to but not contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU),

11-month instructional employees begin work on July 14^th will receive a “skinny check for 5 days’ pay on July 25, 2025.

MTC employees who begin work on July 29^th will receive a skinny check for 4 days (worked in that pay period) on August 8, 2025 (the same as last year).

Memorandum of Understanding for Teachers

Memorandum of Understanding for Paraprofessionals

Voting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, September 13, 2024 

and will end at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.

*****

The ratification votes will take place by electronic ballot.

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Voting instructions will be sent by email to each member of the teacher and paraprofessional bargaining units. 

The tentative agreements were emailed to every teacher and para, are posted below and will be posted at your school. 

If you have any questions, please contact MEA at 747-5091 or via email at association@manateeschools.net.

After negotiating for many hours, the teams were able to reach tentative agreements on both the teacher and paraprofessional contracts.

The highlights are below.  Salary schedules and other details including information regarding teacher and paraprofessional voting on ratification of the tentative agreements will be coming out soon.

Highlights of the Teacher Tentative Agreements are as follows:

- Equalized the rate of pay for 11-month employees when compared to 10-month employees based on days worked
- Initial steps in breaking up compression at the beginning of the Performance Pay salary schedules
- Change from level/step movement to a percentage (%) based increase depending on evaluation rating and place on the salary schedule
- Retention supplement for 16+ and 25+ years of experience maintained

- Supplemental/Differential pay will increase across the board by 4% 
- Self-contained ESE teacher supplement added to the schedule
- One collaborative planning period inside of the student day per month in exchange for the same amount of planning time outside of the student day for that month and a teacher workday shortened by two hours on the mid-year inservice day

Highlights of the Paraprofessional Tentative Agreements are as follows:

- One (1) step movement on the salary schedule for eligible paraprofessionals (those who worked 99 days or more last year)
- $0.50 per hour increase applied to each step of the salary schedule for all paraprofessionals

- New separate salary schedule for aides assigned to work in self-contained ESE units

Teachers and Paraprofessionals

- The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the referendum supplement (the millage) for the 2024-2025 school year was signed. The referendum supplement for paras will be $3598 (an increase of $736), and for teachers the referendum supplement will be $9537 (an increase of $1,175). 

- There will be a 10.9% increase in all health insurance premiums beginning in January 2025. The premiums will be divided over 22 checks in the calendar year (details will be provided prior to ratification). 

- For both contracts, all current contract language including health insurance plan benefits continues until 2024-2025 negotiations.

- All salary improvements are retroactive to July 1, 2024.

Next Steps

Salary schedules, and other details including information regarding teacher and paraprofessional voting on ratification of the tentative agreements will be coming out soon. 

Then, the School Board will place the agreements on their agenda for ratification.

Many thanks to the MEA and District bargaining teams for their hard work in reaching these tentative agreements on behalf of teachers and paraprofessionals.

Dr. Jason Wysong, Superintendent

Pat Barber, MEA President

July 31, 2024 - The Manatee Education Association (MEA) bargaining team consisting of Pat Barber, Cory Bernaert, Helen King, Brian Kirchberg, Rob Lyons, Bruce Proud, Jon Syre, Evelyn Townsley, and Dawn Walker and representatives of the School Board of Manatee County (SBMC) Rick Bailey, Silvana Ianinska, Derek Jensen, Gina Malinak, Kevin Pendley, Donna Peregoff, Joe Ranaldi, Sharon Scarbrough, Rachel Sellers, and Bill Vogel have entered into negotiations for the ’24-’25 contract. Since this is not a year that the full contract is open for negotiations, the main focus will be on economics such as salaries and benefits including supplements and other items in Article XII in the teacher contract and Article XI in the para contract.

MEA’s initial proposal for teachers included a departure from the salary schedule that would allow raises to be applied within the limits of FL Statute. The proposal was to forgo level movement and instead apply a percentage increase based on evaluation ratings. For paras, MEA has proposed step plus 5% increase for all paras who are eligible (those who worked 99 days or more last year).

The SBMC opened negotiations by proposing between 10.9% and 9% increase in health insurance premiums and options that include plan changes that would shift costs of between $1.1 million and $1.8 million to employees. They also proposed that teachers participate in collaborative planning during their in-student day planning two days a month rather than during their outside student day planning. In exchange for that time, teachers would be allowed to leave early on one of the three scheduled record days.

Both parties proposed correcting errors in the 11-month salary schedule.

Progress is being made as we work through the issues being discussed.

Further details can be found by reading the minutes of each session which will be posted once approved by both MEA and management.

The teams will meet again on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at 5:30 at the PSC.

Notice  

of  

Teacher and Paraprofessional Ratification Voting  

on  

Tentative Agreements 2023-2024 

Voting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, September 25, 2023  

and will end at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 29, 2023.  

***** 

The ratification votes will take place by electronic ballot.  

***** 

Voting instructions will be sent by email to each member of the teacher and paraprofessional bargaining units.  The tentative agreements will be posted at your school and are below.

If you have any questions, please contact MEA at 747-5091 or via email at association@manateeschools.net. 

Tentative Agreements Reached

September 8, 2023 - The bargaining teams of the Manatee Education Association and the School District of Manatee County met to negotiate paraprofessional and teacher contracts on Tuesday, September 6, and Wednesday, September 7, 2023.

After negotiating for many hours, the teams were able to reach tentative agreements on the teacher and paraprofessional contracts.

The highlights are below. Salary schedules, and other details including information regarding teacher and paraprofessional voting on ratification of the tentative agreements will be coming out soon.

Highlights of the Teacher Tentative Agreements are as follows: 

-Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)* of $624 applied to every level of the salary schedules (COLA as defined by Florida Statutes 1012.22)

-Teachers on the Grandfathered schedule receive a 4 (four)-level increase; those on the Performance schedule who were rated highly effective receive a 5 (five)-level increase and effective receive 4(four)-level increase

-Longevity maintained but contract language changed to reflect retention

-Supplemental/Differential pay will increase across the board by 5% plus supplements added (all information will be included with ratification documents)

-Master’s Supplement increases by $500 to $2,000 

Highlights of the Paraprofessional Tentative Agreements are as follows:

-1 (One) step movement on the salary schedule for eligible paraprofessionals (those who worked 99 days or more last year)

-2% to paraprofessionals at the top of the schedule

-$.60 per hour increase applied to each step of the salary schedule for all paraprofessionals

Teachers and Paraprofessionals

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the referendum supplement (the millage) for the 2023-2024 school year was signed. The referendum supplement for paras will be to $2,862 (an increase of $504), and for teachers the referendum supplement will be $8,362 (an increase of $1,771).

Teacher and paraprofessionals who worked in bargaining unit positions on March 1, 2023 through September 30, 2023 will receive a $1,000 bonus paid from the ESSR grant.

Beginning in January 2024, we will experience the first premium increase since 2016.  This increase ranges from an annual total of $96 (Bronze employee only) to $2,472 (Gold for employee spouse and children). The premiums will be divided over 22 checks in the calendar year (details will be provided prior to ratification). An open enrollment will take place in October of 2023 prior to implementation of the premium increase.

For both contracts all current contract language including health insurance plan benefits continues until 2023-2024 negotiations.

All salary improvements are retroactive to July 1, 2023.

Next Steps

Salary schedules, and other details including information regarding teacher and paraprofessional voting on ratification of the tentative agreements will be coming out soon.

Then, the School Board will place the agreements on their agenda for ratification.

Many thanks to the MEA and District bargaining teams for their hard work in reaching these tentative agreements on behalf of teachers and paraprofessionals.

Dr. Jason Wysong, Superintendent
Pat Barber, MEA President

August 17, 2023 - The MEA bargaining team met with management’s team on Monday, August 14^th and Wednesday, August 16^th to continue negotiations for the 2023-2024 teacher and paraprofessional contracts.

On Monday, August 14^th, MEA offered a proposal that included a four level increase for those on the grandfathered salary schedule, 5 levels for teachers rated highly effective and 4 levels for those rated effective on the performance pay schedule for those who are eligible, an increase at each level of all salary schedules, an increase to the masters degree supplement, an increase in the supplement schedule for teachers and longevity supplements. The proposal for paraprofessionals included step for those eligible as well as a $1.00 per hour added to each step.

When the two teams met on Wednesday, August 16^th, management’s team provided a counter proposal. Management’s proposal included a a four level increase for those on the grandfathered salary schedule, 5 levels for teachers rated highly effective and 4 levels for those rated effective on the performance pay schedule, an increase to the masters degree supplement, a cost of living adjustment and an increase in the supplement schedule for teachers. Discussion on longevity is pending. The proposal for paraprofessionals included step for those eligible as well as a $0.25 per hour added to each step.

There was also discussion about solvency and reserves in the health insurance fund as well as further discussions in a future bargaining meeting about a recommendation from the health insurance committee regarding premiums and plan design.

MEA and management signed off on the referendum supplements for the 2023-2024 school year.
The referendum supplements are as follows:

Teachers: $8362.00, an increase of $1771

Paraprofessionals: $2862.00, an increase of $504

Referendum supplement payments will begin with the August 25, 2023 check.

The minutes will be posted on the MEA website once approved by both MEA and management. 

The next bargaining session is Monday, August 28, 2023.

August 1, 2023 - MEA and management bargaining teams met for the first bargaining session of the 2023-2024 school year today, August 1, 2023. It was an organizational meeting. Management gave their annual budget presentation, and the teams scheduled future bargaining dates. There were no proposals exchanged.

Members of the MEA bargaining team include - Pat Barber (MEA), Cory Bernaert (Harvey), Ben Geiger (King), Helen King (Bayshore Elementary), Brian Kirchberg (Braden River High), Rob Lyons (JDC), Melanie Newhall (Blackburn), Bruce Proud (Chief Negotiator), Marlyce Stringer (Tillman), Jon Syre (King), and Dawn Walker (MEA).

Members of the District bargaining team include Richard Bailey (SSC), Willie Clark (SSC), Silvana Ianinska (SSC), Gina Malinak (SSC), Joseph Ranaldi (SSC), Rachel Sellers (SSC) and Bill Vogel (Chief Negotiator).

Future bargaining sessions are scheduled for August 14, August 16 and August 28, 2023.

IMPASSE DECLARED

The MEA and Management bargaining teams returned to the table on November 8, 2016; however, the district’s proposal consisted of threats of the loss of retroactivity should the tentative agreements (TA) previously rejected by the teachers not be ratified by November 14, 2016.  MEA proposed enhancements in salary and decreases in employee premiums for spouses and families in response to the ratification vote. 

MEA’s proposal included the following:

·        Cost of living adjustment (COLA) of $300 for all bargaining unit employees

·        4 Levels + $2 for those on the performance

As you all know, the Para Contract was approved and the Teacher Contract was rejected.

The next step regarding the contract will be to return to negotiations and attempt to resolve the issues that lead to the rejection of the teachers’ tentative agreements. The issues in question relate to health insurance premiums and salary.

Should MEA and management be unable to reach agreement at the table, the parties will be at impasse and the process will be as follows.

·        Mediation by a mediator appointed by the Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) (both parties must agree to mediation)

·        Special Magistrate, a fact finder who hears both sides and issues a recommendation regarding items at impasse, appointed by PERC. (This happens if one or both parties request a hearing.)

·        Legislative Body hearing is held before the School Board which becomes neutral Legislative body to hear presentations on recommendations by the Magistrate not accepted by either party.

·        Ratification vote by members of the bargaining unit occurs on the decisions of the Board and/or the accepted recommendations of Magistrate.

·        Board action on the items sent to the members of the bargaining unit for ratification. If the items were ratified by the members of the teacher bargaining unit, the Board votes on ratification. If the items are rejected by the members of the bargaining unit, the Board vote will be on whether to impose the contract or not.

In the meantime, it appears that the Board will move forward with ratification and implementation of the Para Contract.

MEA has not been informed by the Superintendent as to what will occur as far as holding open enrollment for Insurance Benefits.

Please stay tuned for future updates.

Thank you for all you do!

Please be advised that the Para contract was ratified and the Teacher Contract was not ratified.

Voting will begin at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, October 24, 2016

and will end at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 28, 2016.

*****

The ratification votes will take place by electronic ballot.

*****

Voting instructions will be sent by email to each member of the teacher and paraprofessional bargaining units.  The tentative agreements will be posted at your school and are posted below.

In addition, teachers and paraprofessionals will have all of the tentative agreements on the respective contracts sent to them electronically.

If you have any questions, please contact MEA at 747-5091 or via email at association@manateeschools.net.

16-17_tentative_agreement_-_teachers

16-17_tentative_agreement_-_paraprofessionals

TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED

On Monday, October 3, 2016, teams from the MEA and the School Board reached tentative agreement on contract re-openers for teachers and paraprofessionals.

Highlights of the agreement include:

For Teachers on the Grandfathered Salary Schedule

• Eligible teachers on the grandfathered schedule, other than those teachers rated unsatisfactory, shall receive 3 level movement

For Teachers on the Performance Pay Schedule

• Modifications to the performance pay salary schedule are consistent with the requirements of Florida Statutes. 
• Eligible teachers rated highly effective will receive 3-level advancement.  Those rated effective will receive 2-level advancement.  Those rated less than effective are not eligible for advancement in accordance with Florida Statutes.

Longevity

• In recognition of their long standing commitment to students, teachers with 16 and 25 years of continuous service in Manatee County receive longevity recognition in the form of additional supplements

Paras

• Returning paras receive one salary step
• Paras at the top receive a 2% increase

Retroactivity

• The agreement is retroactive to 7/1/16

Health Insurance

• No changes to health insurance plan benefits
• Health insurance premium structure changes from 3 tiers to 4 tiers.  Changes and premiums take effect December 1, 2016 for the January 1, 2017 plan year.  Details to follow soon.

MORE INFORMATION WILL BE FORTHCOMING.

The teams worked together to reach tentative agreement.

After meeting on August 24, 2016 the challenges in this year's bargaining include:

• recommended health insurance increases for those covering a spouse while others maintain their current premium

• limited availability of salary dollars due to lack of increased funding provided by the state.  This year's state funding increased by 1%.

BARGAINING MINUTES

bargaining_062016.pdf

bargaining_071216.pdf

bargaining_072816.pdf

bargaining_082416.pdf

bargaining_090716.pdf

bargaining_092216.pdf

bargaining_100316.pdf

Stay tuned for further updates. 

September 1, 2022 - Please be advised, the outcome of the ratification votes on the tentative agreements by the bargaining units is as follows:  

             Paraprofessional Bargaining Unit:   YES

             Teacher Bargaining Unit:                   YES

The vote tallies are as follows: 

                                                                          Yes           No  

Paras                                                                398          20 

Teachers                                                        1579          95
 

October 7, 2022 - Raises and retro will be paid

October 21, 2022 - EDEP retro will be paid

Notice  

of  

Teacher and Paraprofessional Ratification Voting  

on  

Tentative Agreements 2022-2023 
 

Voting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, August 29, 2022  

and will end at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 1, 2022.  

***** 

The ratification votes will take place by electronic ballot.  

***** 

Voting instructions will be sent by email to each member of the teacher and paraprofessional bargaining units.  The tentative agreements will be posted at your school and below.

teacher_ratification_packet_with_schedules_22-23_email.pdf

para_ratification_packet_with_schedules_22-23_email.pdf

If ratified, 

• raises and retro will be paid on the October 7, 2022 check.
• EDEP retro will be paid on the October 21, 2022 check. 

If you have any questions, please contact MEA at 747-5091 or via email at association@manateeschools.net. 

Tentative Agreements Reached


The bargaining teams of the Manatee Education Association and the School District of Manatee County met to negotiate paraprofessional and teacher contracts on Thursday, August 11, 2022.

After negotiating for several hours, the teams were able to reach tentative agreements on the teacher and paraprofessional contracts.

Highlights of the Teacher Tentative Agreements are as follows:

-Base salary increases by 3 levels from $47, 500 to $48,436 (Grandfathered Schedule and Performance Schedules) using the funds provided in the state Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA) and the District budget

-Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)* of $150 applied to each level of the salary schedules (*COLA as defined by Florida Statutes 1012.22)

-Teachers on the Grandfathered schedule receive a 4 (four)-level increase; those on the Performance schedule who were rated highly effective receive a 5 (five)-level increase and effective receive 4(four)-level increase

-Longevity will maintain current contract language

-Supplemental/Differential pay will increase across the board by 2% plus supplements added (all information will be included with ratification documents)

-Credit for prior teaching experience will increase from 10 years to 12 years (the process for receiving credit will be sent out once the contract is ratified)

-Masters Supplement increases $300 to $1,500

-Sub Coverage language-$20 per hour when teachers split classes or cover during their planning time; daily pay not to exceed the daily sub rate of $120

-Curriculum Pay (Pay for curriculum and special projects including staff development) increases to $20/hour and is retroactive to August 2, 2022

Highlights of the Paraprofessional Tentative Agreements are as follows:

-1 (One) step movement on the salary schedule for eligible paraprofessionals (those who worked 99 days or more last year)

-2% to paraprofessionals at the top of the schedule

-$1.00 per hour increase applied to each step of the salary schedule for all paraprofessionals

-The para base salary becomes $15.00 per hour

Teachers and Paraprofessionals

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the referendum supplement (the millage) for the 2022-2023 school year was signed. The referendum supplement for paras will be to $2,358 (an increase of $304), and for teachers the referendum supplement will be $6,591 (an increase of $1,181).

For both contracts all current contract language including health insurance premiums continues until 2023-2024 negotiations.

All salary improvements are retroactive to July 1, 2022.

Next Steps

Salary schedules, and other details including information regarding teacher and paraprofessional voting on ratification of the tentative agreements will be coming out soon.

Then, the School Board will place the agreements on their agenda for ratification.

Many thanks to the MEA and District bargaining teams for their hard work in reaching these tentative agreements on behalf of teachers and paraprofessionals.

Cynthia Saunders, Superintendent

Pat Barber, MEA President

August 5, 2022 - Once again, MEA and management bargaining teams met for a lengthy bargaining session on August 4, 2022. 

Progress continues toward reaching agreement on paraprofessional compensation. Teacher compensation and the complications of complying with all aspects of the teacher pay formula required by new Florida Legislation continues to be a challenge in negotiations; however, progress towards an agreement is being made. Other topics that are still under discussion include sub coverage, supplements, voluntary transfers, pay for curriculum and special projects including staff development, longevity and benefit deductions.

We encourage teachers to read information posted regarding the Statutes governing teacher compensation in order to understand the restrictions placed on negotiating teacher pay in Florida.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, August 11, 2022.

bargaining_080422.pdf

July 26, 2022 - MEA and management bargaining teams met for a lengthy bargaining session on July 25, 2022. 

Management and MEA made progress toward reaching agreement on paraprofessional compensation. We are continuing to discuss all aspects of teacher compensation and complying with the teacher pay formulas required by the new Florida legislation. In addition, discussion continues regarding sub coverage, supplements, voluntary transfers, pay for curriculum and special projects including staff development, longevity and deductions.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, August 4, 2022.

The minutes will be posted on the MEA website once approved by both bargaining teams.

bargaining_072522.pdf

June 30, 2022 - MEA and management bargaining teams met on June 29, 2022. 

MEA provided initial salary proposals on teacher and para compensation and had discussion around the difficulty in structuring teacher pay within the parameters of current Florida statute. In addition, MEA proposed $15/hour minimum pay for paras as well as increasing compensation for paras paid above the minimum. There was discussion around substitute coverage, and management provided information regarding the issue.

The minutes will be posted on the MEA website once approved by both bargaining teams. 

bargaining_062922.pdf

June 2, 2022 - MEA and management bargaining teams met for the first bargaining session of the 2022-2023 school year on June 1, 2022. 

Management gave their annual budget presentation. In addition, the following issues were discussed: compensation for both teachers and paraprofessionals, substitute coverage and legislative changes and requirements including changes to employer contributions to the FRS investment plan. There were no proposals exchanged.

There was also a report on supplements including supplements in comparable districts, discussion of any duties that are not yet supplemented that may be needed and modifications of existing supplemental amounts.

Members of the MEA bargaining team include - Pat Barber (MEA), Cory Bernaert (Harvey), Kara Carney (Rogers Garden Bullock), Ben Geiger (Bayshore Elementary), Helen King (Bayshore Elementary), Brian Kirchberg (Braden River High), Rob Lyons (JDC), Melanie Newhall (Kinnan), Bruce Proud (Chief Negotiator), Marlyce Stringer (Tillman), Jon Syre (King), and Dawn Walker (MEA).

District bargaining team members include Tim Bargeron (SSC), Dan Evans (SSC), Wendy Mungillo (SSC), Bill Vogel (Chief Negotiator) and Doug Wagner (SSC).

The next bargaining session will be held June 29, 2022

The minutes will be posted on the MEA website once approved by both bargaining teams.

bargaining_060122.pdf

January 25, 2022

Voting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, January 31, 2022

and will end at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 4, 2022.

*****

The ratification votes will take place by electronic ballot.

*****

Voting instructions will be sent by email to each member of the teacher and paraprofessional bargaining units.  The tentative agreements will be posted at your school and are posted below:
para_ratification_documents_2021-22.pdf
teacher_ratification_documents_2021-22.pdf

In addition, teachers and paraprofessionals were sent all of the tentative agreements on the respective contracts electronically.
 

If you have any questions, please contact MEA at 747-5091 or via email at association@manateeschools.net.

January 13, 2022

Tentative Agreements Reached

The bargaining teams of the Manatee Education Association and the District met to discuss para and teacher contracts on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.

After negotiating for several hours, the teams were able to reach tentative agreement on the teacher and para contracts.

Highlights of the Teacher Tentative Agreements are as follows:

 - Base salary increases to $47,500 (Grandfathered Schedule)/$47,500 (Performance Schedule) using the funds provided in the state Teacher Salary Increase Allocation

- Teachers on the Grandfathered schedule receive a 4 (four)-level increase; those on the Performance schedule who were rated highly effective receive 4 (four)-level increase and effective receive 3 (three)-level increase

- Master’s Degree supplement increases to $1200

- Longevity for teachers who completed 16 years ($2,100)/25 years ($3,600) in Manatee County last year

-  Supplemental/Differential pay will increase across the board by 10%

- Credit for teaching experience will increase from 8 years to 10 years

Highlights for the Paraprofessional Tentative Agreements are as follows:

- 1 (one) step movement on the salary schedule for eligible paraprofessionals (those who worked 99 days or more last year)

- 2% to paraprofessionals at the top of the schedule

- $0.50 per hour increase applied to each step of the salary schedule

- Steps 1-5 on the Aides schedule will be increased to $13.45 per hour

Teachers and Paraprofessionals

All teachers and paraprofessionals who did not receive the $1,000 bonus from the Governor/Legislature will receive a $1,000 retention bonus.

For both contracts all current contract language including health insurance premiums continues until 2022-2023 negotiations.

All salary improvements are retroactive to July 1, 2021.

Next Steps

Salary schedules and other details including information regarding teacher and paraprofessional voting on ratification of the tentative agreements will be coming out soon.

Then, the School Board will place the agreements on their agenda for ratification.

December 2, 2021 - On Wednesday, December 1^st, the MEA and management bargaining teams met to continue negotiating for the 2021-2022 contracts for teachers and paraprofessionals. There have still been no agreements reached but significant progress was made towards agreement.

Management responded to MEA’s proposals on salary increases for teachers and paraprofessionals as well as proposals on payroll deductions for benefits, credit for experience on the teacher salary schedule and payment for no sub. Discussions continued about supplements, credit on the para salary schedule and paraprofessional positions that are difficult to fill.

bargaining_120121.pdf

November 18, 2021 - On the evening of November 17, 2021 MEA and management bargaining teams met.  There have been no agreements reached at this point. MEA responded to management’s proposals on payroll deductions for benefits and credit for experience on the teacher salary schedule.  MEA presented an opening proposal on salary increases for teachers and paraprofessionals. In addition, MEA presented a proposal for payment for when a substitute is not available. Discussions continued about credit on the para salary schedule and paraprofessional positions that are difficult to fill.

The next bargaining session will be held December 1, 2021.

bargaining_111721.pdf

November 2, 2021 - MEA and management bargaining teams met for the first bargaining session of the 2021-2022 school year on the evening of November 1, 2021. The scope of bargaining was discussed in that this is a full book. The District had issues that they wanted explored and are open for negotiations. Issues included a district budget update as reported to the school board, credit for experience on the teacher salary schedule, payroll deductions for benefits and paraprofessional issues related to positions difficult to fill in the para bargaining unit.

MEA requested additional data pertaining to all these issues.

Members of the MEA bargaining team include - Pat Barber (MEA), Linda Bryan-Beachler (Freedom), Kara Carney (Rogers Garden Bullock), Helen King (Bayshore Elementary), Brian Kirchberg (Braden River High), Melanie Newhall (Kinnan), Bruce Proud (Chief Negotiator), Marlyce Stringer (Tillman), Jon Syre (King), and Dawn Walker (MEA).

District bargaining team members include Tim Bargeron (SSC), Dan Evans (SSC), Wendy Mungillo (SSC), Bill Vogel (Chief Negotiator) and Doug Wagner (SSC).

The next bargaining session will be held December 1, 2021.

The minutes will be posted here on the MEA website once approved by both bargaining teams.

bargaining_110121.pdf