January 13, 2021 - 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 386 37
Teachers 1743 150
Raises and retro pay will be paid in the February 26th paychecks.
Longevity for those who qualify this year will be paid in the February 12th paychecks.
Sincerely,
Kara Carney, Chair
Internal Affairs Committee
Notice
of
Teacher and Paraprofessional Ratification Voting
on
Tentative Agreements 2020-2021
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.
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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.
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 1st. 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
