Manatee Education Association

Welcome

Welcome to manateeea.org!

The Manatee Education Association -- your professional union -- is Manatee County's advocate for teachers and paraprofessionals. For many years we have stood together and spoken for quality education and for serving and protecting your best interests.

Educators are entrusted with the care and nurturing of our county's most precious resource: CHILDREN. Our lives are dedicated to the future of children and to the future of our community, our state and nation.

MEA brings together teachers and paras so that our voices can be heard and respected. As a member of MEA you support the only organization dedicated to representing your interests at the local (School Board), state (Legislature) and national (Congress) levels.

Thank you for your involvement and your choice to stand with your colleagues in Manatee County, Florida and throughout America.

Are you ready to join us? Learn

Take action to reduce the spread of COVID-19 so we can return to school

We must demand our governor take all necessary steps to slow the infection rate in our state so that our children can return to brick and mortar schools.

Please take action today to keep our students, staff and communities safe. Make your voice heard by signing the Florida Education Association petition.

Amendment to 20-21 Reopening of Schools MOU

July 31, 2020 - The language in the Reopening of Schools MOU regarding pay for teaching more than one schedule needed to be clarified. For that reason, Superintendent Saunders and MEA President Pat Barber have agreed to the this AMENDMENT to the MOU.

Administrators received the same information from Ms. Saunders.

reopeningmouamendment.pdf

Memorandum of Understanding for 20-21 Reopening of Schools

July 30, 2020 - The Manatee Education Association and the Superintendent have reached agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that spells out the working conditions for teachers and paras during the re-opening of schools under the conditions of the pandemic and the Executive Order of Commissioner Corcorcan to open brick and mortar schools 5 days a week.

We are providing highlights but encourage you to read the attached MOU to fully understand your rights and working conditions.

Highlights

Expectations for two weeks of pre-planning
Assurance that CDC guidelines will be followed
Teacher and para working conditions for all 3 student schedules
And much more…

Please read the details contained in the attached documents and let us know if you have questions.

Pat Barber Cynthia Saunders

President Superintendent

mou-005-07292020_-_2020-2021_reopening_of_schools.pdf

Information from MEA for Teachers Only (We are still working on protections for high-risk paras)

Any teacher who wishes to teach in the eLearning schedule because he/she falls in a high-risk category according to CDC guidelines* should follow the following steps:
1. inform his/her principal of that fact as soon as possible.
2. the principal should then direct the teacher to contact HR Director Wendy Mungillo to provide information regarding the condition or circumstance that causes the person to be high risk. This also pertains to those who live with or care for a high-risk individual in their homes.

We suggest that you wait to hear from Ms. Mungillo about sending the doctor's note.

This is not going to be a cumbersome process with a lot of documentation needed. A simple explanation and a doctor's note will be enough.

*The following conditions put people at high risk for COVID:

being above 60 years of age
cancer
chronic kidney disease
COPD
immunocompromised state
obesity
serious heart conditions
Sickle cell disease
Type 1 and 2 diabetes
Asthma
hypertension or high blood pressure
Cerebrovascular disease
Cystic fibrosis
Neurologic conditions
Pregnancy
Liver disease
Pulmonary fibrosis
Thalassemia

School Board Candidate Recommendations

2020-2021 Pay Options

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