School board approves new teacher compensation package

A new teacher-salary agreement approved by the Orange County School Board will become effective for the 2019-20 school year, pending ratification by the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association.

On Tuesday, June 25, school board members approved the agreement, and now 14,000 teachers will get to vote on its ratification. According to Orange County Public Schools, the board’s offer — including compensation and benefits — currently exceeds surrounding school districts.

Highlights of the agreement include:

• Salary offer represents a 4% increase to payroll
• All teachers will receive a $500 cost of living (COLA) increase to their base salary
• Teachers with a 2018-19 evaluation rating of “highly effective” (approximately 83.49% of teachers) will receive a $1,525 salary increase in addition to the $500 COLA
• Teachers with a 2018-19 evaluation rating of “effective” (approximately 12.16%) will receive a $1,125 salary increase in addition to the $500 COLA
• Beginning teacher salary will increase to $40,500
• Instructional personnel employed on or before Oct. 11, 2019, will receive a one-time $500 lump sum bonus
• Beginning teacher salary will increase to $40,500
• Employees must be in an active employment status as of the day of payout to be eligible to receive the salary increase.

More details on the agreement can be found here.

In addition to the board approving the 2019-20 compensation package agreement, the 2019-20 OESPA contract also was approved, pending ratification. All classified employees will receive a 4% increase added to their hourly rate of pay. Employee raises will range from $.40 to $1.22 per hour. 

Minimum hourly wage for OCPS employees in a benefit position will now be $10.60, and classified personnel will receive a one-time $500 bonus.

Pending ratification of the CTA and OESPA contracts, the board also approved salary increases for administrative/technical, school-based administrators and food-service managers for 2019-20 school year. These employees — if they were in position by Jan. 15, 2019 — also will receive an average increase of 4% and a one-time $500 bonus.