2020-2021 Negotiations

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.

*****

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.


PDF icon 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.

PDF icon bargaining_091820.pdf

 

2020-2021 Teacher and Para Millage Supplement

August 27, 2020 - The School District of Manatee County and the Manatee Education Association have reached agreement on the millage supplements for the 2020-2021 school year. The millage supplements are based upon employee allocations for the new school year and current millage revenue estimates. 

more

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 PDF icon this AMENDMENT to the MOU. 

Administrators received the same information from Ms. Saunders.

PDF icon 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

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

Information from MEA for Teachers

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

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 10th and 25th 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:  PDF icon pay_option_form_2020_fillable.pdf

MOU Teacher Pay Options: PDF icon signedmouteacherpayoptions.pdf

MOU Paraprofessional Pay Options:  PDF icon signedmouparapayoptions.pdf

Examples of Teacher Pay Options:  PDF icon pay_options_teachers.pdf

Examples of Para Pay Options:  PDF icon pay_options_paras.pdf