Osceola County School Board Reaches Tentative Agreement with Local Unions on Compensation Packages Worth $29.8 Million for Teachers, Support Staff, and Teamsters Employees for 2023-24 School Year

The Osceola County School Board and the Osceola County Education Association (OCEA) have collaboratively bargained together and reached a tentative agreement on a $22.8 million compensation package for teachers and a $4 million compensation package for ESP employees.

The Osceola County School Board and the Teamsters Local No. 385 also reached tentative agreement on a $3 million compensation package for teamsters for the 2023-24 school year.

All three (3) tentative agreements will now go to both the School Board and OCEA members for final ratification and settlement, and then, salary dollars will go into the pockets of employees.

The Osceola County School Board, OCEA, and Teamsters recognize the talent, commitment, time, and hard work of all employees to support our schools and value the critical role they play in courageously ensuring educational excellence for every child, every chance, every day.

All three parties are excited to have reached tentative agreements prior to the beginning of the school year so that all of our employees know what they will be earning when they return to work in August.

Working within the mandates of recent legislation, and within the limits of the Florida Legislature’s budget allocations for Osceola County, once ratified, this settlement would ensure all full-time, currently employed instructional, ESP, and teamsters employees receive a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) equal to 5% of each individual employee’s minimum base salary.

In addition to the salary increases, this agreement also ensures all instructional, ESP, and teamsters employees receive the following benefits for the 2023-2024 school year:

1. Design changes to our School District’s major medical Health Insurance Plan that:

- include an increase to the Board Contribution for a total of $7,498 per employee;

- continue to provide our employees with health insurance coverage options, including a no-cost option for the individual employee;

- implement innovations and enhancements to provide cost-savings and new choices for our employees and their families; and

- ensure our Health Benefits Trust Fund remains fiscally solvent to serve our employees during uncertain economic times;

2. Flexible Spending Account Match where the School Board shall match the employee’s FSA savings of $750 or more with a contribution of $250 in order to assist the employee toward the employee’s deductible;

3. Continued commitment to our School District’s Center for Employee Health; and

4. Memoranda of Understanding and contract language upon which both parties have reached tentative agreement.

In accordance with the requirements of state law and the performance pay salary schedule as previously bargained, for the 2023-24 school year, each instructional employee shall also receive as:

- a first-year employee for the 2023-24 school year = a minimum base salary of $49,000 (which reflects a salary increase of $500); or

- an existing employee returning for the 2023-24 school year = a recurring salary increase as follows:

- $1,200, or twenty-four (24) salary schedule levels, for instructional employees whose final summative evaluation rating is “Highly Effective”;

- $900, or twelve (12) salary schedule levels, for instructional employees whose final summative evaluation rating is “Effective”

The tentative agreements will now go to OCEA members for ratification and then to the School Board for approval.

All three (3) tentative agreement documents will be made available on the “Tentative Agreements and Ratification Documents” webpage on our School District public website at: https://www.osceolaschools.net/Page/6812.

“I speak on behalf of our School Board members when I say we will continue to collaborate with OCEA in order to get these dollars into the hands of our dedicated educators as soon as a tentative agreement is ratified by both parties,” said Superintendent Dr. Mark Shanoff.

“This tentative agreement is an historical achievement for the 2023-24 Instructional and ESP Bargaining Leadership Teams. OCEA relishes the opportunity to continue to pursue the very best package for all employees. We sincerely thank management’s team for their collaborative efforts and patience, as it takes time to change a mindset and learn to work together toward an actual worthwhile goal. We will continue to explore more and different methods while we continue to negotiate with management in future school years to get additional monies into employees’ pockets,” said Janet Moody, OCEA President.