ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The St. Johns Education Association, the teachers’ union in St. Johns County, is asking the school district for higher salaries by the start of the next school year.
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St. Johns County voters passed property tax increases as part of a two-vote ballot amendment during the November election. The school district tells Action News Jax it predicts it will get $60 million, in total, from the tax increases. 85% of that money, or $51 million, will go toward pay raises for teachers and staff.
The union just met with the school district to work toward an agreement on how the money from the tax increases will be used to support salary raises. These are the raises the teachers’ union is asking for:
- 0-5 years with the school district: $4,450 salary raise
- 6-10 years with the school district: $5,562 salary raise
- 11-15 years with the school district: $6,675 salary raise
- 16-20 years with the school district: $7,787 salary raise
- 21+ years with the school district: $8,900 salary raise
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The teachers union tells Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin these numbers are, in part, to focus on the keeping of teachers in the classroom, both new hires and veterans. The school district is taking more of a focus on attracting new teachers. These are the raises it is offering the union:
- 0-5 years with the school district: $5,000 salary raise
- 6-15 years with the school district: $6,000 salary raise
- 16+ years with the school district: $7,000 salary raise
The district says it’s been working on remedying an ongoing struggle to both hire new teachers and keep them from moving out of St. Johns County for better pay. Deputy Superintendent of Operations Dr. Brennan Asplen hopes the district’s offer will, if nothing else, make the county more desirable.
“We’re trying to get as much money in the hands of our new folks so that we can recruit folks as well,” said Asplen.
The school district’s most recent, available numbers for its starting teacher salaries are from the 2022-2023 school year. It says teachers make, at least, $48,642 to start. That number is lower than what counties like Duval ($48,700), Nassau ($50,200), and Flagler ($49,541) pay to starting teachers.
But the district says, more so than starting pay, the lack of affordable living options has fueled its struggle to keep teachers from moving out of the county.
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“If they don’t feel supported, if they feel frustrated or overwhelmed, they’ll leave,” Asplen said.
The St. Johns Education Association wasn’t able to speak with Action News Jax before its negotiation meeting with the school district. But the district says it’s confident the two will be able to reach an agreement for teacher salaries very soon.
“Making sure we have the right people in front of our students, that’s our business. Our business is to educate our students, and we need to make sure we get the best people to do it,” said Asplen.
The agreement between the union and the school district has to happen by July 1, 2025, which is when the district says it will start negotiating how to use the money it gets from the state every year to go toward even more salary boosts.
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