- November 21, 2024
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The Volusia County School Board voted unanimously on Feb. 28 to ratify an $11.7 million collective bargaining agreement between the school district and Volusia United Educators.
The district had announced in a news release on Friday, Feb. 24, that 96% of instructional personnel, or 2,825 staff members, had approved the agreement, which includes $5 million for teacher salary increases.
In addition, the package will provide: $2.1 million to continue a previously bargained longevity supplement; $3.9 million for a retention supplement for employees with 10 or more years of service; $2.6 million for advanced degree supplements; and $250,000 for a one-time bonus for ESE instructional personnel who don’t currently receive a stipend.
During the School Board meeting Tuesday, VUE President Elizabeth Albert thanked the bargaining teams for their hard work and said VUE was “very happy with the outcome.”
Only 133 of the union’s instructional personnel voted against the agreement.
The first payment — the payout of the retention supplement for teachers who have been with the district for 10 or more years — will take place March 9. The longevity payout will follow on March 31.
District staff said instructional personnel will be able to see their new salary reflected in their paycheck on April 14. Those who will be receiving the advanced degree supplement will also then see the retroactive pay for that.
The overall retroactive pay, from the beginning of the school year to date, will be given on April 30.
“We are thrilled to see our instructional personnel’s overwhelming support of these agreements, which will provide well-deserved raises to teacher salaries and supplements to our veteran teachers, ESE personnel, and instructors with advanced degrees,” VCS Superintendent Carmen Balgobin said in the news release. “We look forward to communicating payment dates as soon as possible once the agreement is approved.”
School Board Chair Jamie Haynes, who was a teacher for over 30 years, suggested that bargaining for next year begin in April to be ready to go by July 1.
“There was an occasion back in the day when I started ... where we started the school year off knowing what the raise was, or what we were getting,” she said. “It used to happen a long, long time ago.”
Albert said that was the intention of what VUE had attempted to do in the past.
“It didn’t work, but if you are committed to that, we’re absolutely in favor of doing that,” Albert said. “Because it also makes us as a district more competitive to those folks who are looking to secure employment if we can say to them, ‘This is a contract that’s ready to go for you,’ when these other districts are still trying to work it out.”
