Negotiations

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.

*****

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.

-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

Voting will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 7, 2021

and will end at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12, 2021.

*****

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.

• Teacher and Para Tentative Agreements: teacherandparatentativeagreements.pdf
• 20-21 Teacher salary schedules:  2020-2021_teacher_salary_schedules_final.pdf
• 20-21 Paraprofessional salary schedules:  salary_schedules_all_paras_20-21.pdf
• Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) re: 20-21 Referendum:  2020-21_referendum_revenue_and_expenditure_summary_-_teachers_and_parassigned.pdf
• MOU re: Teacher pay dates:  signedmoupayoptionsteachers.pdf
• MOU re: Para pay dates:  signedmoupayoptionsparas.pdf

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 District met to discuss para and teacher contracts on Thursday, December 10, 2020.

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 $46,429 (Grandfathered Schedule)/$46,439 (Performance Schedule) using the funds provided in the state Teacher Salary Allocation

-Those above the base salary receive a three-pay level increase

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

Highlights for the Paraprofessional Tentative Agreement are as follows:

-one step movement on the salary schedule for eligible paraprofessionals

-2% to paraprofessionals at the top of the schedule

-$0.10 per hour increase applied to each step of the salary schedule

For both contracts all current contract language including health insurance premiums continues until 2021-2022 negotiations.

All salary improvements are retroactive to July 1, 2020.

The teachers and paraprofessionals will vote on ratification of the tentative agreements after the Winter Break.  Then, the School Board will place the agreements on their agenda for ratification.

Pat Barber                                                                                       Cynthia Saunders
President                                                                                         Superintendent
Manatee Education Association                                                      School District of Manatee County

November 18, 2020 - The MEA and management bargaining teams met today to discuss the teacher and para contracts for 2020-2021.

During the time since the last session, MEA continued to dig into the School Board’s budget to determine where funds could be located to find raises for those teachers not impacted by the Teacher Salary Allocation and raises for all paraprofessionals.

If there is going to be any money for raises for teachers and paras other than those for whom the state has provided Teacher Salary Allocation money, it will have to come from the School Board’s budget and salaries will have to be made a priority.

Today, Tim Bargeron, Deputy Superintendent of Finance, gave a budget presentation to the MEA bargaining team. A great deal of uncertainty remains around the budget.

In addition, management responded to MEA’s last proposal which was presented at the last bargaining session on Friday, September 18, 2020. The district modified their proposal to include recognition of longevity.

No agreements were reached.

The bargaining notes from the September 18, 2020 meeting are posted below.  

The next bargaining session is scheduled for December 10, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.

We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

bargaining_111820.pdf

September 21, 2020 - The MEA and management bargaining teams met for an initial bargaining session on Friday, September 18, 2020 to exchange initial proposals.  Management focused on meeting the parameters of HB 641 and making sure that those funds are spent. Their intent is to make a report to the school board in order to meet the state requirement pertaining to HB 641 to report by October 1^st.  MEA provided compensation proposals on behalf of teachers and paraprofessionals. This information will be discussed further at Rep Council on Monday, September 21, 2020.

The following are the bargaining team members:

For MEA - Bruce Proud, Pat Barber, Dawn Walker, Cory Bernaert (Freedom), Linda Bryan-Beachler (Freedom), Kara Carney (Rogers Garden Bullock), Helen King (Bayshore Elementary), Brian Kirchberg (Braden River HS), Melanie Newhall (Kinnan), Rena Morano (Palmetto HS), Marlyce Stringer (Tillman) and Jon Syre (King). 

For Management – Tim Bargeron, Bill Vogel, Doug Wagner and Genelle Zoratti-Yost.

bargaining_091820.pdf

June 3, 2020 – The School District of Manatee County and the Manatee Education have signed  Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) that will adjust how employees are paid beginning with the 2020-2021 school year.  Every employee will have to select how they will be paid by filling out the Pay Option Form below and returning it to HR no later than Thursday, June 25, 2020. 

Currently, employees are paid semi-monthly (on the 10^th and 25^th of the month) and earn 24 pay checks in a school year. 

Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, employees will be paid bi-weekly (every other week).  Your annual salary remains the same in each option.  The options are as follows:

• 22 pay checks over the work year (August – June),
• 26 pay checks with pay over the summer
• 26 pay checks with 5 checks paid in a lump sum on the last pay check of the work year

Deductions for health insurance, life insurance, flexible benefits will be deducted equally among all checks depending on the option chosen, and MEA dues deductions will be deducted over 22 pay checks. 

The MOUs, pay options form and some examples of what these changes could look like for teacher and para pay checks are below.

Please make your selection using the pay option form and return to HR no later than June 25, 2020. If it is not returned, you will default into the 26 pay option.

Pay Options Form:  pay_option_form_2020_fillable.pdf

MOU Teacher Pay Options: signedmouteacherpayoptions.pdf

MOU Paraprofessional Pay Options:  signedmouparapayoptions.pdf

Examples of Teacher Pay Options:  pay_options_teachers.pdf

Examples of Para Pay Options:  pay_options_paras.pdf