Most Santa Rosa teachers may receive $741 to $1,073 annual pay increases

By Mary Lett 

Most teachers in Santa Rosa County school district may soon see a bump in their paychecks.

The school district and the Santa Rosa Professional Educators union recently signed a memorandum of understanding to disburse $1.55 million in Florida Department of Education Teacher Salary Increase Allocation (TSIA) funds.

The Santa Rosa County School Board approved the MOU at its Sept. 10 meeting, and 1,830 teachers who taught in the district last year will each receive a proposed $741 to $1,073 in annual pay raises.

The MOU is now awaiting ratification from Santa Rosa Professional Educators members. On Sept. 23 and 24, teachers are set to vote on the ratification in-person at their respective schools.

If ratified, Santa Rosa County school Superintendent Karen Barber said the pay raises should begin in November.

“All returning teachers will be eligible for the 1.53% increase, which will be divided over the remaining paychecks for the 2024-2025 fiscal year,” said Barber, who explained the pay periods will include eight months – Nov. 1 through June 30.

David Godwin, Santa Rosa Professional Educators president, said the union team was glad to come to an agreement on the distribution of the TSIA, which are funds the state uses to supplement teacher salaries. He said, however, the union will still seek more money for teachers.

“The state brags about this allocation being historical funding for teacher salaries. Does this increase sound historical? I’m not saying our teachers aren’t grateful for this, but it’s not going to move the needle too much,” Godwin said.

In March, Santa Rosa teachers received a 3.87% average raise following seven months of negotiations. The pay increases were retroactive to July 1, 2023, and increased the average annual salary for teachers in the district from $53,200.49 to $55,675.

During 2023-2024 negotiations, Godwin said the bargaining agent was “forced into the agreement” due to a drawn-out negotiation process. After the Santa Rosa Professional Educators declared an impasse in February, the school district requested an appointment of a special magistrate in March, according to Godwin.

Godwin said a Jacksonville school district attorney told him it would take until the summer to prepare for a special magistrate meeting, which would pass the deadline for the Santa Rosa School District to use the TSIA, and the funds would have to be sent back to the state.

Knowing that the SRPE could not get in the way of getting teachers the additional funding, Godwin said that they were “forced into an offer” with the school district to secure a salary increase for teachers.

For the upcoming 2024-2025 negotiations, Godwin is more optimistic.

“We will work with the school district starting in October, and plan to negotiate a further increase, which will come from the school district’s discretionary fund,” Godwin said, adding the school district’s new chief negotiator, Leonard Dietzen, has so far been transparent.