Amid an atmosphere of nationwide unrest over teachers’ wages, negotiations between the Volusia County teachers union and the school district have stalled once again due to disagreements over salary, dress code and workload.
“At this point talks have broken down,” union president Andrew Spar said Tuesday in a livestream video expressing his disapproval of district officials’ demeanor during contract negotiations. “Clearly they do not care about your issues.”
The district’s outlook was more optimistic.
“I think we’ve had some very good conversations and we’ve exchanged many proposals back and forth,” Deb Muller, chief financial officer for the school district, said Wednesday.
“Yesterday the district went out on a limb to offer a three-year deal,” she added. “We are not aware of any other district in the state offering (that).”
The 5 percent raise proposal expanded on a 1 percent salary increase and one-time $800 bonus for the 2018-19 school year to also include subsequent 2 percent raises in each of the next two years, contingent on funding from the Legislature.
The bonus alone is a 2.1 percent raise for beginning teachers, but Spar proposed that money instead be used by the district to maintain dental insurance and offset rising health care insurance rates for the next three years.
Since some employees don’t have health care coverage through the district, Muller said, the bonus is a fair way to compensate all employees.
Spar said the union stood firm in its request for a 2.5 percent raise next school year, with additional 4 percent increases in each of the next two years contingent on state funding.
Though the district’s proposal allowed it to opt out of raises in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years if legislative funding doesn’t support the increase, it “didn’t address if the Legislature actually funded (education costs),” said Spar.
In that event, he said, the union may want to seek a bigger raise in those years. “If the district has an out, we should have one, too. It’s only fair.”
Tuesday’s bargaining session ended without resolution, and no date has been set for continued discussion. Spar said he fears a settlement will not be reached by June 1, teachers’ last workday of the school year. In that case, negotiations effectively will be on hold until classes resume in August.
“You see teachers rising up today in North Carolina. They’re out on strike,” Spar said. “When are we going to realize we can’t keep treating our public schools and the people who work there so poorly if we want to have a great education system for our students?”
North Carolina is the sixth state to see its teachers go on strike in recent weeks.
Though Florida law prevents teachers from striking without risking their jobs and pensions, Muller said a lack of funding from the Legislature has frustrated districts statewide.
“I think one common theme here is the economy has improved and public schools are not being funded to that level,” Muller said. “The economy is better, and our funding has not kept up with inflation.”
Salary isn’t the only issue over which union and district officials are at odds.
Spar’s complaints included what he characterized as a “combative” approach on the part of an attorney representing the district at Tuesday’s bargaining session.
“I will tell you (attorney Tom Gonzalez) spent more time lecturing us on what he believes negotiations should be and the process than on actual negotiations,” Spar said, questioning the district’s choice to spend money on outside counsel.
It’s common for school districts to bring in third-party lawyers to handle contract discussions, district spokeswoman Nancy Wait said.
“Really, we are trying to negotiate with our teachers and come to a fair deal, and what is important to us is to focus on our negotiations more than any issues that might be at the table (between) personalities,” Wait said.
Other areas in which agreements have yet to be reached include dress code, teacher attendance and workload.
The union turned down a teacher attendance initiative that would establish a weighted financial incentive for teachers who miss 0-5 school days, using money saved from paying substitutes.
The union also rejected the district’s proposition to end early-release Wednesdays in favor of adding full days for teacher planning and training.
But one particularly hot point of contention continues to be teacher dress code.
The district’s proposed standards of professional attire would require teachers to be neat, clean and well-groomed, and disallow ripped, torn or revealing clothing as well as T-shirts, jeans, flip-flops, shorts, sweatpants and yoga pants except on certain approved days or for physical education classes.
The union agreed to ban beachwear and sleepwear, and Tuesday added ripped or torn clothing to that list.
It’s a small step forward in what may yet be a long battle.
“I do not believe by any stretch that the School Board or Superintendent (Tom Russell) have any intention of reaching an agreement,” said Spar, adding that he believes an impasse was the district’s “game plan” all along.
“I always have hope,” he said. “But my hope is a little less than what I would like.”
Both parties will regroup and prepare for the next round of negotiations that may or may not take place before school is dismissed for the summer.
“We all sincerely hope we can reach an agreement,” Muller said. “We would like nothing better than to have a ratified contract.”