School Board passes teacher contract with 6 percent raise

Teachers will see an increase of 6 percent across their salary schedule starting next month.

Without comment, the Collier County School Board unanimously approved the contract for the teachers for the next three years.

Under the contract, the salary schedule will increase 6 percent across the board for the 2006-07 school year. Teachers with zero to three years of experience and a bachelor’s degree will be paid $38,198, which is an increase over the current $33,226 to $36,036.

Teachers with 16 to 19 years of experience and a bachelor’s degree will be paid $58,812, an increase over the current $54,341 to $55,483.

“I’m excited. This is what I wanted,” said board Vice Chairman Steven Donovan. “I wanted a pay raise for everyone. I wanted the teachers on the lowest step brought up as high as possible.”

But there is a concession to the contract. All teachers will remain at their current salary steps, which are measured by years of experience, for the 2006-07 school year. Teachers will move to the next step in the 2007-08 school year, according to the agreement.

That means some teachers will lose more than others. Those who have put in 19 years with the district and were expecting to go on longevity pay will have to wait until their 21st year of service. Those teachers who have spent three years with the district will be paid the same as a first-year teacher.

“There were concerns at a couple of levels, but I can say that we as a board did the best we could for our teachers,” said Chairwoman Kathleen Curatolo.

About 60 percent of the district’s teachers voted to ratify the contract earlier this month, according to officials from the Collier County Education Association, which is the group that represents about 80 percent of the district’s teachers.

Von Jeffers, president of the CCEA, said Thursday he was pleased the board had passed the contract.

“It is a good settlement. Not great, but it was all the School Board was willing to give us,” he said. “But they took the money and spent it on salaries. We also got planning time, or health insurance is still fully paid.”

District officials and teachers also were able to come to an agreement on a proposal that will allow teachers to transfer within the first three years of employment with the district, something that was not allowed before.

Supplements for teachers who coach sports, coordinate the school’s art fair or sponsor clubs will be indexed to the pay scale. That means the supplementary pay will increase each time the district approves a salary increase for teachers.

Although the contract is in place for the next three years, the union and district officials will bring salaries back to the table each year to renegotiate the increase.

The new contract, which will go into effect July 1, will be signed by Curatolo, Jeffers, and Cal Boggess and Michele LaBute, who were the chief spokespersons for the negotiation teams; and Superintendent Ray Baker.

But while the vote on the contract went smoothly, not everything came that easily.

The board went into recess shortly after the meeting started when Shawn Black, whose daughter is a student in Collier County, had questions regarding contracts for architects for renovation projects at several schools.

Black said he was upset because the information was not online, which district officials disputed.

Black said he had questions and the argument between Black and Superintendent Ray Baker became heated.

“The School Board is going to spend $1 million of taxpayer money; they should be able to answer questions,” Black said.

Baker offered to have Black speak with district staff about his questions, but Black pushed the issue toward board members.

After several discussions back and forth, Baker told Black his time to speak was up, that he was out of order and asked the deputy in the meeting to take note.

“I think you are disturbing the meeting and I think we should take a recess,” he said.

Members of the public are given three minutes to speak, unless granted more time by the chair of the board.

Curatolo took a recess, at which time Baker went to Black and spoke with him.

Once the recess was over, Black returned to his seat at the back of the room.

Black said after the meeting that he was disappointed his questions weren’t answered.

“It’s not difficult. They should be able to answer my questions,” he said. “In the time they were hemming and hawing, they could have answered my questions. But they never have and they never do.”

Curatolo said the board follows “Robert’s Rules of Order,” which outlines parliamentary procedure for meetings, and that the board would not tolerate personal attacks.

“There is a set time to make comments. There are guidelines we have to follow at every meeting. I have and will continue to follow those guidelines,” Curatolo said.