All right, good morning everybody. I think uh it's 11:30, so we'll get started. Uh welcome to negotiations between the district and CTA for the 2526 school year. uh jump right into our agenda today. Um
I I think we'll get started with introduction since this is our first session. So I'll start and we'll work our way around the table if we can. My name is Tim Kubri. I'm the chief of HR. >> Themed Ramos Cruz, HR manager, labor relations. [Music]
>> Nancy Bolton, director risk and benefits management. >> V Danielle Williams, assistant general counsel. >> Mark Mitchell, human resources. Diane Wyatt, labor relations. >> Kim Thomasson, principal, GOV
Elementary. >> Corey Brooks, principal, Dwire High School and association president for administrators. >> Kevin McCormack, exceptional student education. >> Angelina Gales, CTA staff.
Randall Audi, CTA staff. [Music] >> Justin Katz, CTA executive director. >> Gordon Longher, CTA president. >> Kildan, >> it was on. >> That was on. >> You're good.
>> Okay. Kilda Morgan Williams, CTA vice president. [Music] >> Edith Pride, area 14 director, Boca Raton Elementary School. Bill Rizzo. Uh, I'm just a teacher. >> Oh, it's on.
>> Red is on. Yeah. >> Adena Kerr, treasurer of CTA and West Point Middle School. >> Patty Hatch Sabers, part teacher, professional development. >> Allison Miselli, grade five, Timber Trace Elementary.
Lori Landy, school counselor, Amy Middle School. >> Kiier Dorsy, CTA secretary, um, ESC preK teacher. >> Hazel McFarland, support facilitator, Point Beach High School. >> Cardier Scott, high school math teacher,
Sun Coast. >> Hi, good morning. My name is Dr. Tanya McDall. I'm the principal of Roosevelt Elementary School in West Palm Beach. Thank you. >> Elementary. >> All right. Well, welcome everybody. Thank you for being here. >> Oh, sorry. >> And and I hope you all had a nice Labor
Day weekend. Um so getting started, I I think today we'll we'll get started with today's uh presentation here and I know CTA has one of their own. Uh we really want to review some progress we've made over the past few years, particularly last year. Um provide some updates of of
where the district is. uh financially and enrollment and things like that and also just begin some constructive dialogue over the past few years. I think we've had some um reach some successful bargaining uh results and you know I think the it's because we've
collaborated very well. The district's uh committed to collaborating uh as always with the union and and really we hope to u through doing that through working together achieve some some positive results for our teachers. So, we'll get started. Last year's
settlement agreement or we had a 4% base salary increase. We were able to raise our minimum teacher salary to 53,000. We also continue to to stretch apart that new hire new hire salary schedule which really helps us attract uh experienced
teachers to our district rather than having them all clumped in at the beginning salary. uh the additional period supplement increase to $30 from $25, which is something that hadn't changed in many years. Uh we also uh reached agreement on some additional afterare benefits.
And with all of that, we we uh did see our average teacher salary right now with referendum at $69,300, which is good, but it's also very much supported through the the referendum that that our taxpayers uh approved here in the community. So with that
referendum, it it does help our average teacher salary a lot. So and just to so that we all can see where we stand with with our the urban seven districts, which are districts very similar to ours, we we remain
competitive, uh one thing I would say is that some of the districts, uh unlike Palm Beach County, have referendums that start at with their base salary. So ours doesn't start until year one where some of the other districts start right away. Um and and that's been used basically so
that they could remain more competitive with us. But ultimately we're pretty competitive with with our urban 7 which are similar in size to us and and you know obviously funding then also how we compare with our neighbors. There haven't really been many settlements
this year. Um, I think the whole state is a lot of the counties at least are are waiting to see where enrollment goes and things like that. So, what our our neighbors have done uh open the school year with is is what you see on the screen here in terms of your beginning
salary, teacher salary. So, so we have had a steady growth with our our salary increases over the last 10 years and and even beyond that. Um, the one thing that that presents a bit of a a challenge this year is the state
funding for teacher salary increases. Um, right now that this fluctuates, it's based on enrollment, but as of this morning, the numbers that that Heather has provided is is right around $6 million. That equals about 0.6
uh% salary increase in funding from the state. So, uh, the cost of 1% for the teacher bargaining unit is $10 million. So, the this is lower than what we've seen in previous years. Um, you know, it's not always been something that
matches what our what we offer, but this is this is lower than than what we've seen. And so with that, we do have some concerns with with FY26. Our actual vacancy rate, it's very low right now. Um, we have we have two and when we talk
vacancy rates, I want to provide a little clarity here. Our we have a vacancy rate from HR, right? where we're talking about jobs that are advertised and how we report our vacancies out to the the media, the state, and things like that. And that was at 1.3% this morning. So 1.3%
uh equaled 141 classroom teacher positions, like the actual in a classroom, but 168 total teacher bargaining unit positions. That that's what we have advertised right now. Now, there's also a a vacancy or an actual
vacancy rate that Heather uses in terms of budget. That's just all budgeted positions whether they're advertised or not and if they're empty or filled. Right? So, the thing about that that vacancy rate is for years we have been able to use the lap salary towards you
know our salary increases. So when the state doesn't give us that much, we have benefited from some of those vacancies being able to give better than than funded uh salary increases for teachers uh over the past few years, many years actually. Um that brings us to our next
concern, our our enrollment. Uh our enrollment is down about 5,500 students. Uh that's one of the the sharpest declines we've seen in a very very very long time. Um and our projected decline was only 400 students. So where are
these kids going? Right? Uh the family empowerment scholarship has grown rapidly. It exceed their enrollment and that exceeds uh charter school enrollment. The one thing about charter schools, it took a very long time to get where they're at, right? It it took years. It didn't grow so quickly. But
the family empowerment scholarship has has grown much quicker than that. But that's not the only place. Our EOL student population has also declined. Um and in addition to that, we have seen health care claims uh rising. The
district did have to add $30 million to the fund to so that we could comply with the the required fund balance uh of having a being self-insured. Uh all this really does create a lot of budget uncertainty. And one thing about enrollment, which I know that some of you really know and some but I do want
to I just want to say it anyway. the when enrollment declines the that loss in revenue is much greater than the savings that you have from, you know, less reduced costs of operations, right? You're not when you when you pull out a few kids from classrooms, for the most
part, you're still running a classroom. You still have all of those costs associated with it, but you lose all the revenue. And on the flip side, when enrollment grows, you're you're adding a kid here or there throughout our classrooms. it most of that money doesn't uh goes to our our balance there
and it doesn't really cost a lot more to run those classrooms. So, so with that, we have uh given our enrollment decline, we've taken some steps to to mitigate the impact it will have on our FY26 budget.
Uh just as of Friday, August 29th, we did put into a a full district hiring hold on all positions with the exception of very few transportation, school police, uh things like that that um you know we always run
and you know bus drivers, things like that. But overall a full district hiring hold um to to stabilize our our staffing. Uh count day adjustments are are coming up soon and and we're expecting to see a a very large number
of count day adjustments uh and shifts in in placements of teachers needed. Uh our primary focus right now is to really try to balance out our staff and keep everybody in jobs. That's where we're at right now. Um
as I mentioned before of our our posted vacancies, you know, classroom teachers, you're looking at about 140. And I'd expect the number of adjustments that we need to make to exceed the number of positions that are advertised. So, we'll be dipping even further into those
positions that might not even be filled right now. So, with that, there's not a whole lot more. We really can't commit to anything beyond the the $6 million that we know we have from our TSIA money for teacher salaries at this time. uh we
do have planned meetings with our board uh coming up to to discuss this further with them and and give them an update on on our enrollment and just where we stand. But I want to be very transparent with you all that you know we don't have a salary uh proposal with you uh for you
today because you know this this enrollment was worked out last last week is really when we we came to realize that we really were down as many students as we are. Uh, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Miss Cruz for
some some other changes in in recommendations and language. >> So, as we're looking at our CBA, there's some existing language that conflicts with workers comp um laws and also limits employee benefits. And we have some clarifying language. With that, I
am going to turn it over to Director Nancy Bolton who can elaborate more on this. Hi folks. Uh some of you will recall that we had a lot of conversation about this over the past couple of years. This article um dates back before I think any
of us actually in this room. And so what we sought to do with our proposed changes is to make the language um clearer to provide more clarity to provide um definitions that fit um the
workers comp statutes. There was an art there was a I think it was section C in the article that limited the district's liability to $5,000 for any reported assault. Um you know you can't limit the district's
liability under workers comp, for example. So that was part of um part of the article that was that was not clear. But what we seek to do is to um change the language from assault to battery.
And the reason is because the article allows for additional uh days of full line of duty payments to um covered CBA employees, teachers, for example, who are
injured as a result of an interaction with a student. And so Florida Workers Comp is the primary remedy for um for disability when a Florida employee is
injured in the line of duty. And so the term assault can relate to threats where the term battery is an actual physical contact or unlawful use of force. So we recommend changing the language away
from the term assault into the term battery. Uh we do because battery is a crime uh we do request we do recommend that a police report confirm a battery and we clarify the term disability to
temporary total disability which is determined by an authorized treating physician under the workers comp statutes. Sure. >> So that is something that we did bring last year and I know we've talked about it throughout the year. So it's just
something else we we think that should be changed. >> Okay. So during last year's negotiation um the parties agreed to several joint studies um to establish
um this appendices 11 through 14. Um the parties did convene. They provided the recommendations. Those joint studies completed back in May 12th, 2025. And now we're proposing that they be removed from the CBA.
Those are um these appendices to removed. They're not going to be renewed. That's the UNICEG, the Pew Fund, the Ignite Fellowship, as well as the ESSE differentiated pay joint study committee. Um the appendices to add were for the reading endorsement supplement.
There were some updates to that as well as um we received a um grant from the health corpse. So we had anou for that. Um some additional updates were for the rate continuation for the hospital homebound employee sub coverage extended
day instruction supplement as well as the green champions. The changes to that were primarily to renew them for additional year. So with that I I know that you have a presentation that you want to go through. So would you like to start that now?
>> Okay. over it. Whatever. want to thank Mr. Kubrick for the opportunity to go ahead and run through our proposals for this round of negotiations. Um uh you'll see them displayed up here on the screen. We have copies when we complete uh the quick run
through of them. Some will take maybe a little more time to review than others, but uh we'll go ahead and do those as quickly as we can. We'll start with a uh uh a listing um of what we have and that as you can see make sure that I get an easy way to
go up and down. Um we'll start with a preamble typical thing uh we'll show you. We've got article 2 uh 3A with contract year, some uh items pertaining to employee hours and conditions, uh voluntary transfer period, specific paid
leaves, glade supplement, uh the advanced degrees, uh supplements for advanced degrees, and the national certificate supplements, uh supplements in general, going back a couple of uh to really some progress that was made in those a couple of years ago on a few and
trying to bring those into alignment. and then uh additional period supplement uh appendix D and then after that at the end we'll have a separate uh document for raises. So we'll just continue right down now. Uh but we do thank um
uh on behalf of our association, our board of directors, we do thank uh the school board and the district team for meeting with us today uh to begin these discussions so we can hopefully come to a quick resolution of this agreement and uh continue about the business of moving student achievement here in Palm Beach County. Um on the preamble, um this is
the uh first year in a in another uh new three-year agreement for the basics. So you'll see some more changes that apply to the initiation of that three-year time frame. Uh should be nothing, uh strange here. Um we'll fill in dates obviously when necessary and uh it does
reference that this is a comprehensive agreement uh with a ratification date uh on both sides to be uh determined and that uh other than the standard reopeners contained herein the uh contract would run through 2028 and we know that those reopeners exist for
salary and then limited items throughout the term of the agreement. Um and so those dates are there and it also codifies uh here for the first time the same information that was agreed to earlier in the year or earlier this year with respect to healthcare when the
healthcare agreement was ratified and we had the three-year agreement for healthcare premiums. So that would be up for uh those changes in the 2027 calendar year for the 2028 plan year. And so we'll have that. So that will be the first item down there. Um second is
article 2 section O children of employees. Um something that we made some progress on last year. Um we do believe that uh this is a a good item uh with not a lot of cost to it. Uh that in fact would enhance uh teachers who are
working in the county um and have them feel that their value is increased uh when they're having to deal with their own children in a before after school uh child care situation. So we're requesting an increase of 25 from 25%
discount to 75% discount. Um that's the extent of uh this particular proposal. Um article 3 section A in the contract year. Um teachers have spoken to us about uh how much they were able to
accomplish in their full day of working through preschool. and the number of stories I was hearing this year for the first time from teachers that their principles were actually providing them an additional day where they were uninterrupted which was a nice thing to have and they felt that that was
something that would probably benefit everyone and uh this team decided that that was something worthy of putting on the table as well. uh that when teachers can dedicate that time to being ready for the students when they walk in day one and when the scheduling with district professional development and
required meetings necessary with principles uh in the building to start the year when you put those two things together and this can still be accomplished then the ones who benefit the most at the end on day one are going to be the students. So uh we've decided to add that in for those reasons.
um employee hours and conditions. Um the uh elementary teachers that we've spoken to for a number of years have talked about the inequity in them having three days of professional development
activities and only two teacher work days aligned with their trimesters. Whereas the secondary teachers had three days for work. Um and this is apart from the closing uh post school day uh in order to prepare grades and do some
other necessary planning within the year uh but only two days of professional development time. So this part of the proposal or this particular proposal seeks to address that inequity by uh carving out the first day after the winter break as a teacher work day for
all so that they can prepare to meet their students the day after. Article 4 C uh voluntary transfer period. Um the timing of the voluntary transfer period ending when it does really does
force the hand in some cases of teachers who may only find out on May 1st that they are being assigned to a grade level and they would then for that reason or maybe for other reasons like to seek a transfer late in the year. um they
really don't have time to be able to cons be considered for vacancies that may be posted and uh getting to an environment where they believe that they will be more productive. And so we ask for this uh period of time to be extended in order
to accomplish that. Um, we also ask for consideration to be given to teachers even in their first year. And there's a very good reason for this as well. Um, we are in a day and time where annual
contracts are the norm. And so a teacher may or may not be as productive as they want or even their supervisor wants with the with students. And just because they're in the first year of employment doesn't necessarily mean that there's
not a better place for them. And we've sought this before and the district has sought in the past to go ahead and open up the voluntary transfer period for earlier career teachers to meet certain needs. Uh we're just looking to level the playing field here and give them that opportunity once that they have
completed their probationary assignment. um that a transfer that would be in effect after that time, they would in fact be able to go ahead and accept that transfer and be placed at that school. I probably should be stopping along. Yeah, I'll catch questions at the end.
You good? >> Sorry. >> Yeah, I think it's okay how you're good. Okay. Yeah. All right. Um next, article 5, section B, specific paid leaves. Um, this is probably
one of the two biggest items in the packet. Um, teachers regularly deal with the need to be off work uh due to due to child care situations that occur whether uh whether assigned whether because of a birth in
the family, because of an adoption placement, uh maybe even some other foster care placement. Um these are circumstances where getting that child comfortable in the home, the parent having that time especially with newborns to bond is so very important.
Um in this day and age where we want to continue to promote the quality of teacher and the and retain those teachers in classroom and support our employees to the degree that they know this is the best place to work. um that
we just feel like it's a it's a time it's a timely topic to begin to discuss. And so this is a fairly comprehensive uh pro uh plan. There we go. I'll keep that up. So we'll just go ahead and read through this and let you uh with you as it goes. The paid parental leave
proposal would be added into specific paid leaves. The parties recognize the importance of supporting employees in balancing their family responsibilities with their professional duties. Accordingly, the employer shall provide paid parental leave to eligible employees for the birth, adoption, or
placement of a child. Eligibility, speaking to the eligibility of individuals, paid parental leave shall be available to all bargaining unit members who have completed 90 calendar days of employment with the employer prior to the date of the birth, adoption, or placement of a child. Paid parental leave shall be available to all
eligible parents regardless of gender, marital status, or family structure. Duration and compensation. An eligible employees shall be entitled up to 6 weeks of paid parental leave per birth, adoption, or placement event. Paid parental leave shall be compensated at
100% of the employees regular base pay. Paid parental leave shall run concurrently with and not extend beyond applicable federal or state family and medical leave entitlements unless otherwise required by law. And the use of paid parental leave shall not be counted against an employees sick leave,
personal leave, or compensatory leave time. If an employee requires additional time for paid parental leave for parental leave, the employee may use sick or personal leave as provided in article 5 sections B1 and B2 of this agreement. Usage. Paid parental leave
must be taken within 12 months following the birth, adoption, or placement of the child. Leave may be taken in consecutive weeks or intermittently subject to reasonable scheduling needs and mutual agreement between the employee and the employer. both parents. If both parents
are employed by the employer, each shall be entitled to paid parental leave under this article. Um, benefits and protections. Employees on paid parental leave shall retain all seniority benefits and acrruels as if they were actively at work. Health insurance and other contractual benefits
shall continue during paid parental leave under the same conditions as active employment. Employees shall be guaranteed reinstatement to their same or equivalent position at the conclusion of paid parental leave. And finally, a non-discrimination clause. No employee
shall be disciplined, discriminated against, or retaliated against for requesting, planning for, or taking paid parental leave under this article. And as I said, we do have printed copies, so you'll have all of this information for you uh just moments after we finish.
Uh next on the list is article 8 section G glade supplement. Um it's been some quite some time since the glade supplement uh was increased and so we have a request here. Um the language you see is what is existing in the contract.
Um but uh just a few the the small changes here. Effective July 1, 2025, full-time employees assigned to the Glades Area School Facility will be paid the following annual Glade supplements. Um, that's the extent of this particular
proposal. See some people making notes. I'll pause for a moment. Okay. Thank you, Tim. Article 8, Section M, Advanced Degrees. Um, in this particular proposal, we're seeking some opening up of the
opportunity for people to have advanced degrees that are more general in nature um and applicable to classroom work to be have them be able to be brought in uh into the field of those the area of those that can actually be compensated
for. We have number this is again one of those pieces we hear regularly from teachers about that I've earned this degree like in curriculum and instruction or in career and technical education um and my teaching area in science is doing a lot with tech or in
in math. It's doing a lot with structuring this curriculum but I'm not getting paid for it because it's not in math or it's not in science. And uh I know from conversations with educational leaders and teachers for over 40 years
that anytime a teacher goes into a classroom to study and learn, they figure out other things that they can do better at or ways to incorporate more information in better ways to advance student achievement. So this is the spirit in which this particular proposal is offered. Um and it requires that we
do eliminate some language um in order to open that up. Um, so you can see the changes here. Only employees with that deletion who have earned or or may earn an advanced degree as set forth in this subsection will continue to receive to be eligible to receive a pay supplement
in accordance with pre appendix A of this agreement provided and and these are now things uh rather than being excluded. These are things that could be included as well with some caveats that would provide a way to properly vet these degrees before having them
approved. And uh so we'll do an emphasis on the state uh department of education uh rules as explained in the Florida administrative code chapter 6A-4. Um because that comes up with some information on advanced degrees. um the
advanced degree either includes or is followed by 12 graduate credits and again the reference subsection A above uh in order to determine and provide that appropriate vetting standard for these degrees. Um
and giving teachers the opportunity to have that graduate study in any course that would be applicable for work that they would do as a teacher. uh reading or math. Um as you can see, science um ESSE students um speaking uh working
with students who speak other languages. Um clearly in Palm Beach County, those are those are details that need to be addressed by every teacher almost every day in a classroom. Um and then where they have the reading endorsement, this is simply section C is just a clerical
note uh referencing it with the Roman numerals that are referenced in the prior paragraph. Um, in section D, the deletion is because in consultation with FEA attorneys, one of those uh clauses in our language that
actually was far more restrictive than the state law requires. And the recommendation was to delete that in an effort to again provide this uh more open groundwork and a stronger playing field for teachers to do advanced study, improve their credentials and uh their
practice and be paid for that as well. Oops, I'm sorry about that. Um employees serving in uh areas of professional certification such as media specialists, physical or occupational therapists and others could also receive
advanced a payment for advanced degrees in those areas. And that simply again doesn't limit it. Uh the whole thing here is can we get more people with the opportunity to grow themselves in the profession while choosing to stay in the
classroom. Um section F is unchanged. Section E uh is added the opportunity that if a if a teacher through some oversight realizes that they have let a certification lapse
and there is an opportunity for them in short order to go ahead and redress that lapse uh to correct it, they can continue to receive that supplement. uh but if it falls outside of the range of a reasonable grace period then as the contract states that supplement would be
withdrawn with the drop of that particular area uh on their certificate. The dis let's see um we know that there are a couple of different kinds of ed leadership degrees. Some are more general in nature some programs of study
some are more specific to institutional leadership. um those that are more general in nature, giving that emphasis on curriculum and content um maybe on school processes and uh and working with students uh in behavioral situations.
Those degrees clearly are more general in nature and probably enhance the work of the teacher in the classroom and those probably still deserve to be compensated. again um recommendation from uh our council at FEA that this is something that would be appropriate in
and still be in compliance with state law. Um, and then finally here, um, an employee hired after July 1, 2011 may only be paid an advanced degree supplement in accordance with appendix A of this agreement if the advanced degree is held
in his or her area of certification as provided in Florida statute 1012.22, 22 paragraph 3 meaning that the degree is related to the subject matters and endorsements appearing on the employees Florida educator certificate and then in addition
uh some of the further things that we've had in the contract most of them still retained um it was again determined by our council that uh content area courses being required to bear a specific prefix was also beyond the necessities of
existing law and so that was recommended as a removal. And then we have a a restatement for purposes within the language as it exists of the same grace period remark that you saw momentarily above.
Uh and then the same paragraph of uh prohibitions with the deletion of educational leadership. And finally, should relevant provisions of Florida statute 1012.22 22 relating to advanced degrees be repealed or is found by a court of compet competent jurisdiction
uh found void by a court of competent jurisdiction. This section will automatically revert to the advanced degree language of this collective bargaining agreement that was in effect on June 30, 2012. And that was prior to the changes necessitated um again if
it's a repeal of the law. So that is the information on opening up advanced degrees uh for teachers to grow themselves in the profession and remain in the classroom while gaining um additional compensation for the work and the growth
in their credentials and their skill set. Advanced degree supplements. In some work uh that I was doing in preparation for this, I did note that our advanced degree supplements within the largest counties in Southeast
Florida are in fact trailing behind the remainder of them. Um the lowest that I found outside of Palm Beach County going south was roughly $3,600 for a master's degree. The highest that I found was
$8,000 for a doctorate degree. Um those were found both in Broward and in Date County. That was where the primary uh numbers were searched. Um and if memory serves on this, uh one of
the counties to our south provides infield and out of field supplements. Again, speaking to the need to open up this for people who are growing themselves in the profession and uh the infield being the ones that are more highly compensated. Um the high end, as
I said, was 8,000. So bringing hours up these amounts literally puts them right into um into the lane that was created because the highest in one county was $7,200, still above our current of 6,000
and the low and the highest in the other county was at $8,000 for a doctorate. So we are right in that ballpark, remaining competitive while not necessarily having to lead the way on every single path. National board certificates uh we
propose to have the same amount of an increase go to them. National board certification is recognized nationally as teachers who have sought to improve themselves by practice and then uh adjudication by peers for the work that
they're doing. um they've se seek this certification, they pay a pretty good amount of money for it and they can retain it, but they now have to go ahead and put themselves up for renewal every five years, not every 10 years. When this program was started back in the
'9s, uh the state compensated teachers as well as Palm Beach County. Palm Beach County, to its credit, kept their supplement in place when the state said, "We're not going to pay for that anymore." Um, but this is a supplement that literally has not changed in our
county since it was first created. And today, um, holders of national board certification are receiving or they're they're actually charged about $1,900$1,950 in order to go ahead and obtain that
certificate initially and then it's another $1,500 in the process to renew it every five years. So they they put in great amounts of time and effort and professional expertise. Um they expend dollars to do this and we just feel that
after this many years clearly over 20 years of the same level of a supplement that it deserves to get some consideration for going up for those who have sought to and have re maintained the national board certificate uh as a
teacher. um in con and keeping pace with that our CCC and NSP NCSP certification individuals are uh we're asking for them to enjoy the same increase. Um I do not know the history of those. I'm sure it's
not a whole lot different. Um we could look in the contracts, but I did know about the national board uh because that's the one that the teachers do talk to me the most about between those two. um
supplements. Um recognizing in past negotiations that the SVT uh coordinators deserved a little compensation or some compensation for the work that they do um in addition to their regular duties. Uh we're
seeking the 504 coordinator supplement uh to be established with an annual stipen of $2,000. These can be very very busy times. Um, as some schools, I think Miss Landes might have some numbers on this. Uh, but some schools have an
inordinate number of students who might be on 504 plans, taking a very large amount of time for the individual doing that. Frequently, a member of the T bargaining unit is asked to go ahead and take care of that responsibility. That and when the numbers are exceedingly
large, it literally does negatively impact their work. Um and uh so we're asking for this to go ahead and be considered for a supplement as well. Um as we go further into the discussions, we can talk about the numbers in different work sites uh that an
individual might be responsible for. Um speech lang speech language pathology assistant supervisors. Um we have working in the district uh members who are speech language pathologists. Dr. uh probably
practically a doctor for the number of years she's done the work. Gilda Morgan Williams my vice president is one of is one such SLP and uh she is aware of the particular concerns of uh the the SLPs who act as supervisors for the
assistants. The assistants are individuals who are not yet completely through the entire certification process which takes about two years for them to complete. Yet they can work with supervision in an SLP capacity. But again, having the SLP, the cert the
fully certificated uh SLP working alongside of them for many of these things in the way that they do for the two years that the SLPA is involved does again take away from their ability to meet the workload that they would normally have. And so for that reason,
we're seeking a supplement for them as well, the same amount, $2,000 for the year. Um and finally a general supplement increase is the uh last in this particular packet of
information that I will pres oh actually there is one more my bad um the uh this is the second to last one you'll recall that two years ago we had a significant supplement lift for selected uh individuals coaches primarily receiving
supplements in our appendix uh that deals with supplement pay for various activities done after school. A number of those a number of individuals listed in those charts did not receive any attention whatsoever. We asked for this last year. We're asking for it again
this year. Um we know that some of those individual supplements that were raised were raised very large amounts. in some cases that may have approached almost doubling what they were making. Um without any ranker or uh over over
levels of concern about that, it is appropriate to see to it that the other individuals get some advancement in the in the work that they do as well. Um and so we're seeking a total of 10% over two years, 5% per year. You'll notice from
the language, and I'll just go through it. Um, all supplements in this section that did not receive an increase due to the 2023 revision of this agreement shall be increased a total of 10% over the 2026 and 2027 contract years at a
rate of 5% each year. Additionally, any supplements that were increased at least 5% but less than 10% in the 2023 revision will only receive an increase in the first year sufficient to match the 10% total above. Finally,
any supplements that were increased less than 5% in the 2023 revision will receive an increase in the first year sufficient to match the 5% increase for school year 2026 above and shall also receive the 5% increase for school year
2027. This path is uh selected by us consistent with um a a somewhat more distant increase that was provided in the past where it did apply for as 5% increase for each supplement every each
year for two years in a row. And finally, we appreciated the district's movement last year on the additional period supplement that went to $30. However, it's fair to point out that at a uh at a
salary of $53,000 a year for a firstear teacher, um the $30 is still an undervaluing of the work that they do on an hourly basis. Um at times we may have considered different sets of numbers, different ways to do this that would
really represent the contribution to the school, but at a very minimum, at a very minimum, it should be our policy. We believe that the payment for a teacher taking an additional period of instruction, which will require that they do additional work for themselves
beyond the day in order to accomplish that, that they be compensated at the very least at an hourly rate equivalent to the minimum teacher salary. Hence um the hourly rate would change under this proposal so that it reads effective on
the first day of the next earnings period after this agreement is adopted by the school board and ratified by CTA the hourly rate computed from the minimum annual base salary on the performance pay salary schedule as codified in appendix A period rather
than giving a specific fixed dollar value as that salary goes up and is and is the minimum standard for what a teacher's time is worth coming into the district brand new. So should the salary for doing an additional period go up as
well. Um we believe that this will in fact assist high school principles and middle school principles in acquiring some of those individuals who might be willing to do an additional class because respectfully at this time they're not even making what the teacher
would do at a minimum and uh we believe that's fair. Um and as you see consistent with what was presented by you all we've agreed that the uh haven't put the other one up but you have uh we've also concur with the uh dissolving
of the joint study committee on uh the on this particular uh aspect of the contract and that is what we have uh for our proposals uh for language at this time and executive director Katz is going to bring around the printed copies
and uh give you a few moments to look over those as he gets them out and we'll entertain any questions you might have. >> I have a question. >> Sure. on the paid parental leave. I've I've seen this, you know, going around the state. Um I was curious if if you've
pulled your members to see who would be in favor, how many would be in favor versus not in favor of it if it meant pulling away from money that would otherwise be devoted to salary. When we proposed this in the survey,
over half of the members, and I I'll say fully 40% said that this was something that they felt needed to be addressed at a five or a four being the highest level. And the the scale that I used was five, it's an urgent need, should be addressed
immediately. Four, it's very important. It needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Three, it needs to be addressed, but it was on a balance that they felt that it should be addressed and it might compete with others. But fully 40% were in the top two and over
half of the bargaining unit did select a three, four or a five on that. A minority, clear minority did not think it was important enough to pursue at one level or another. Yeah, >> I was going to go up to that. Any other questions?
No. Then we'll go ahead and move into um our salary proposal. Um, in my conversations as president for the last two years with teachers, they continue to talk about their need to be
able to live as close as possible to the communities that they're serving and to do that in Palm Beach County without having to have additional employment in order to pay their bills. Um, and we know that that's a challenge because we also know that uh that while the state
may not do what it needs to do from time to time, we still have to do our best here no matter what because when the day is done um it is the teachers that we have in Palm Beach County that will either choose to stay or choose to leave. And so we we recognized that when
there was in these last two years good increases that were noticeable that people felt in their pockets, they've chosen to stay. And I think your own information about only 160 some odd vacancies in T bargaining unit
positions. I think that's a testament to the fact that we're doing the right thing here in attempting to retain our teachers by making sure that they're paid appropriately. Um, so with that in mind and given the continual success of teachers at getting Palm Beach County to
continue to be an A-rated district, uh, we are proposing essentially the same offer that we have for the last two years as a starting point to see where we can possibly get to make sure that our teachers are compensated to the degree that they need
to be in Palm Beach County to be able to stay and work and devote their attention fully to the task at hand of working with uh students in Palm Beach County. The numbers that you see reflected are in fact uh within the constraints of
Florida teacher pay laws and then uh TSIA compression increase money is allocated to fill that gap as we've done in two prior years between those who are on the grandfathered schedule and those who are on the performance pay schedule.
and and yet this year a little bit different. There is no difference between the two and we have uh printed copies of this page as well. >> Yeah. >> Take one pass down.
>> With that proposal, are you recommending that the minimum salary stay at 53,000? >> We realize that that was uh something that probably doesn't it probably can't stay there. I think there might be a statutory uh piece in there that says it has to go up. Um if you happen to know
that value, I did not recall. I did some searching to try to find what that was. I we were thinking it might be as in the range of half of what the effective raise is. Is that what it is, Mark? >> It's algebraic, but it could be calculated. >> Okay. Uh so we've not yet included that in there as well. Um obviously that
could be a factor. Um and and as we have discussions as negotiations are want to do to find a point where both sides can accept then obviously these particular numbers might change but they can always change in in accordance with the algebra that goes
behind this plan. Um I guess Mr. Mitchell the state of you number of years ago made our worth all the more relevant. Huh? >> Job security for you and me. Okay. >> All right. Uh, obviously we've got a lot to to work through on on determining
really what we can bring forward. You know, I I see at every board meeting I know you're advocating for for teacher pay uh support for teachers. I I recognize that we do we do the same. We value our teachers, you know, just as much. Um right now we we do have a lot
to work through with our enrollment challenges and understanding from there where we can go with any kind of salary. Um and then also sort of weighing some of the supplement recommendations you have to determine, you know, what eats into any salary money that would be
available. So um I don't think we have any other questions. I think we'll we have some more to do on our side and then we'll come back to the table with with a follow-up. I had uh one question for you all on the initial information that you provided. Can we get a copy of the slideshow presentation sent to Justin
and I? We can far it out to others as needed. >> Yep. We'll send that out. >> Um and do you have any other language proposals to present today? >> We do not. No, we that's it. All right. >> Okay. >> All right. Well, thank you all very
much. I appreciate everyone's time today. >> Thank you.