BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The Brevard County School Board voted Tuesday in favor of a new contract with the Brevard Federation of Teachers, though the union’s president warned board members that an agreement wouldn’t be possible next year without raises, according to News 6 partner Florida Today.
Brevard Federation of Teachers President Anthony Colucci said the union had ratified the union contract with 83% of members who participated in the vote in favor. He said he was pleased that the coming contract increases parental leave and flexibility of teachers’ schedules, does not raise insurance premiums and includes bonuses for teachers, but going forward the union will insist on permanent raises to address low pay for veteran teachers.
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“We all know that there’s an elephant in the room and that is the huge compression issue between newer teachers and those with a decade or decades of experience,” Colucci said.
“I’m sure that all board members and the superintendent believe that a teacher with 15 years of experience should not be separated by only $1,500 from a teacher with 15 minutes of experience. … Next year on our end — and I say this not as a threat or an exaggeration — there will only be one satisfactory outcome for our teachers, and that is a significant raise.”
The final agreement between the district and the union did not include permanent raises. The district instead offered a $2,000 bonus to all teachers and an additional $1,100 for teachers who have worked for the district 12 years or more, saying there was no room in its budget to commit recurring funds to teacher salary increases.
The board approved the contract without discussion. It also voted in favor of updating its public speaking policy to resume broadcasting public comments unrelated to agenda items. A new policy passed in October moved those comments to the end of meetings, where they would not be filmed or broadcast.
Board member Matt Susin called upon the board to begin discussing changes to the district’s policies for renaming schools in light of a dispute over the proposed name change of Melbourne High School to Joseph M. Acaba Melbourne High School.
Acaba is the first person of Puerto Rican heritage to become a NASA astronaut candidate and taught at Melbourne High School for two years.
Susin said the petition had attracted significant opposition to the name change. An online survey received two votes in favor and 1,037 against. The 18-month process to gather community feedback continues nonetheless, and the petition won’t come before the board for a decision until March.
Susin added that the district may soon be building a new middle school, which could be a better candidate to share Acaba’s name.
“This is not a bad request,” Susin said. “There’s a need for a school to be named after a Hispanic leader in the community, and I can see that.”
BPS Superintendent Mark Mullins said he would work with the district’s legal team to develop a revised school renaming policy to bring before the board.