- February 13, 2025
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The special magistrate who heard the contract dispute between the Volusia Teachers Organization and Volusia School District issued his recommendations on April 22. The VTO and the school district now have 20 calendar days to accept or reject the recommendations. If either side rejects the proposed settlement, the School Board will make final decisions on the contract.
An impasse in their negotiations for the 2015-2016 school year was declared on Feb. 18, and both sides met with the magistrate on March 30.
Teachers were seeking a raise effective for the 2015-2016 year, but the School Board offered a raise of 4% effective July 1, for the next school year. The magistrate, John Popular, recommended that teachers receive a raise of 3.47 percent to take effect May 1.
The statewide annual average salary for teachers is $47,950 and the average for Volusia County teachers is $44,250.
School officials have stated that previous raises were taken from reserves, and changes need to made to health insurance to save money for the raises. But in his recommendation, the magistrate said there was insufficient information about insurance costs and the Labor Management Insurance Committee should reconvene and examine the cost of each benefit plan.
The two sides are also at odds over teacher evaluations, with the VTO saying they should be the subject of negotiations. The magistrate said both sides are free to file for unfair labor practice to resolve the issue.
The VTO and school district negotiation team will each provide responses to the recommendations to the School Board. The School Board will make the final decision in a public meeting, which has not been scheduled, according to School Board spokeswoman Nancy Wait.
