Jan. 14. 2022

Q.  What is the retention supplement?

A.  The retention supplement is the amount each teacher will receive based on cumulative years of instructional employment in a benefited position with the district as of the initial date of payout for each year of the three-year program. This supplement will be provided each year for three consecutive years beginning in the 2021-22 school year.

Years of Experience                               Amount

5-9 Years                                                 $500

10-14 Years                                             $1,000

15-19 Years                                             $1,500

20-24 Years                                             $2,000

25-29 Years                                             $2,500

30 + Years                                               $3,000

Q.  When was the impasse hearing?

A.   The impasse hearing took place over two days, Jan. 5 and 7, and included more than 14 hours of presentations, testimony and arguments from both sides. The impasse was formally resolved Jan. 7 by the School Board. An update will be provided by the district when the CTA determines the timeline and dates for ratification.

Q.  Who will receive the $2,500 one-time district supplement?

A.   Any teacher hired on or before Oct. 8, 2021, will receive the $2,500 one-time salary supplement.

This increase is retirement eligible which means these wages count toward retirement credit.

Q.  What is the state formula for calculating teacher raises?

A.  The state formula for determining salary increases for teachers is based on performance. A Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) can be given to every teacher; however, any additional increase must be based on performance.  

The salary adjustment for a “highly effective” teacher must be at least 25 percent greater than the highest annual salary adjustment available to an employee of the same classification through any other salary schedule adopted by the district.

The annual salary adjustment for a teacher rated as “effective” must be equal to at least 50 percent and no more than 75 percent of the annual adjustment provided for a “highly effective” employee of the same classification.

There is no annual salary adjustment, other than a COLA, for an employee who receives a rating other than “highly effective” or “effective” for the year.

Q.  What is the $100 Cost of Living Adjustment or COLA?

A.  This is the annual salary increase every teacher can receive regardless of their evaluation rating.

Q.  How is it determined if a teacher will receive the additional $200 or $400 increase in salary?

A.  The $200 is the additional salary adjustment for all teachers rated as “effective” on their overall performance rating for the 2020-21 school year.

The $400 is the additional annual salary adjustment for all teachers who received a performance rating of “highly effective” for the 2020-21 school year. These adjustments meet the criteria outlined in the formula described above.

 Q.  Will employees pay more for health insurance in the 2021-22 school year?

A.  No. There will be no changes to the 2021-22 plan year. Employees will not pay any

additional costs associated with the increases to the plan. The school board will fund the

deficit in the amount of [COST].  

Q.  What is a Health Savings Accounts? 
A.  A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a type of savings account that allows individuals to pay for current health expenses and save for future qualified medical expenses on a pre-tax basis. Funds deposited into an HSA are not taxed and both the balance in the HSA and interest grows tax free. The HSA funds are available on a tax free basis to pay your qualified medical expenses, including your copayments, coinsurance and deductible.  NOTE:  With an HSA, there's no “use it or lose it” provision. This is one of the primary differences between an HSA and an FSA. If you put money in your HSA and then don't withdraw it, it will remain in the account and be available to you in future years.

Q.  Does the district offer a medical option with a Health Savings Account?    
A.  No, a Health Savings Accounts (HSA) can only be offered with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). With a HDHP, the annual deductible must be met before plan benefits are paid for services, however, in-network preventive care services are fully covered prior to satisfying the deductible. 

Q.  Does OCPS’s Plan B qualify as a HDHP and Health Savings Account? 
A.  No, OCPS’s Plan B is not an IRS qualified High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and is not eligible for a Health Savings Accounts since members are not required to meet the deductible before medical or prescription copayments apply. With an HDHP, the annual deductible must be met before any benefits are paid.

Q.  What will be the financial impact to employees when the new healthcare plan becomes effective in October 2022?

A.  There will be no increased cost to premiums for employees and an over 2% increase in deductibles depending on the plan and utilization.

Q.  How many nurses will receive the 5% salary supplement and what is the cost to the

district?

A.  All seven district level nurses will receive the 5% salary supplement. This supplement will

cost the district $21,052 in recurring costs.

Q.  When will teachers receive their money?

A.  The package which includes wages, one-time $2,500 supplement, 3-year retention supplement, health insurance, and district nurses supplement will need to be ratified by a vote of the entire instructional bargaining unit which includes non-members and members teachers of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association (CTA). Distribution of ballots and the date of ratification will be determined by the CTA.  

Dec. 17, 2021

Q.  What is the School Board legally required to decide in the hearing on Jan. 5, 2022?  

A.  Under s. 447.403(4)(d), Fla. Stat., the parties are required to explain their positions with respect to the rejected recommendations of the special magistrate (wages, three-year retention supplement, health insurance and supplement for district nurses). Under s. 447.403(4)(d), Fla. Stat., the School Board shall “take such action as it deems to be in the public interest, including the interest of the public employees involved, to resolve all disputed issues.”

Q.  What is the format of the hearing ?

A.  Lawyers for each side (administration and union) will be given 90 minutes to explain their position on the issues in dispute (wages, three-year retention supplement, health insurance and supplement for district nurses). Board members ask questions about the positions of the parties. This hearing is not an opportunity to re-litigate the hearing before the special magistrate or to present new evidence. Under state law, the hearing before the School Board to resolve impasse is a quasi-judicial hearing. No public testimony is allowed in quasi-judicial hearings under s. 286.0114(3)(d), Fla. Stat. By the end of the hearing, the Board will make determinations on the matters in question.

Dec. 13, 2021

Q.  What would I receive under the district’s offer?

Below represents a chart of the increase highly effective and effective teachers (which combined make up 95.5% of all teachers with approximately 87.4% being highly effective and 8.07% being effective), as well as developing/unsatisfactory teachers (combined 0.5% of all teachers) and Category 4 teachers (those with no performance evaluations, which are approximately 4% of all teachers) will receive under the district’s offer.

Highly Effective evaluation

Effective Evaluation

Developing/Unsatisfactory/No performance evaluation

* Already provided by Governor or the district through a separate Memorandum of Understanding

** These funds are considered compensation which counts for retirement purposes

The first 80% of the State Teacher Salary Increase Allocation of $40.59 million must maintain all teachers’ at a minimum of $47,500.

The 20% remaining for new salaries increases was $2.35 million after required withholdings.  Under the law “the teacher salary increase allocation must be used solely to comply with the requirements of this section.” The district is required to provide the $2.35 million in performance pay. Under the performance pay law, an increase given to effective teachers must be between 50 and 75% of the increase given to highly effective teachers. The distribution of the $2.35 million broke down mathematically to $25 in a cost of living adjustment, $100 for effective teachers and $150 for highly effective teachers.

Dec. 9, 2021

The impasse hearing will not take place next week as previously indicated. The Union requested that the Board hearing be scheduled after the winter break. We will keep you posted once a date is determined.

An additional question has been raised regarding the proposed Three-Year Retention Supplement. Supplement income WILL count toward retirement for teachers.

If you have additional questions, feel free to submit them to the Labor Relations hotline at ocpslabor@ocps.net or 407.250.6269.

Dec. 8, 2021

The impasse hearing before the school board will take place next week (date and time to determined). There will be no public testimony at this meeting, as the School Board will be in quasi-judicial role to make a determination based upon evidence from the hearing and a presentation from the union and the administration. The hearing will be broadcast on the OCPS School Board YouTube channel.

Q. What is the average teacher salary within OCPS?

A. The average salary for an OCPS teacher is $52,334. The school board also contributes, on average, an additional $19,877 per teacher for benefits, which includes $5,233 for retirement, $4,004 for FICA, $9,289 for health insurance, $37 for life insurance and $1,415 for other benefits.

Q. How do teacher salaries within OCPS compare to the rest of Central Florida?

A. OCPS has the highest average compensation in the region.

Q. Why didn’t the district accept the union’s recurring wage proposal?

A. The cost of the union’s proposal is $60.6 million per year. For 2020-21, the state legislature DECREASED per-student funding by approximately 3.5%. Recurring expenses such as salaries should not be paid by non-recurring funds (School Board Policy DB). As noted by the magistrate, the union’s recurring wage proposal would require drastic steps such as cutting programs and staff. In 2021, Hillsborough County Public Schools went into a deteriorating financial condition and had to lay off 1,000 employees due to covering recurring expenses with nonrecurring funds.

Q. What kind of salary increases have teachers received in recent years?

A. Instructional Personnel have received the following salary increases since 2013-2014 when funding was provided by the state:

In 2020-21, instructional personnel were the only employees to receive salary increases as part of a new state statute that set a minimum teacher salary of $47,500 with categorical funds.  

Q. What was the district’s salary proposal to the union?

A. The district proposed a $2,500 one-time supplement, which counts for retirement. All non-classroom instructional personnel who did not receive $1,000 in disaster relief payments from the Governor, recently received a $1,000 bonus.

The state categorical money left over from the Teacher Salary Increase Allocation, after maintaining all teachers at $47,500 was enough to give teachers a $25 cost of living increase, plus $100 for teachers rated “Effective” and $150 for those rated “Highly Effective” based upon State requirements. The cost of this proposal is $44.7 million.

The district later offered to fund a Three-Year Retention Supplement ranging from $500 - $3,000 depending on years of experience for school years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24.

Years of Experience                               Amount

5-9 Years                                                 $500

10-14 Years                                             $1,000

15-19 Years                                             $1,500

20-24 Years                                             $2,000

25-29 Years                                             $2,500

30 + Years                                               $3,000

This is identical to the Union’s proposal, but would be provided for the next three years through ESSER funding due to be approved in December. The Union did not accept this offer.

Q. What about health insurance provisions?

A. The union proposed no changes be made to the district’s health insurance programs. The district noted that the current plan is not sustainable. Plan adjustments were proposed with NO increase to premiums. Between 2012-14 and 2019-20, insurance claims paid by the district increased $101.7 million, or an average 17% increase per year over the previous six years.

The adjusted  plan was shared previously and can be found here.

Florida law requires districts with self-insured healthcare plans to keep two months of claims in its stabilization reserve. In the last three years, the district has contributed $31.5 million to the stabilization reserve (through transfers from the General Fund, usage of ESSER dollars and reimbursements from CVS). Without changes to the insurance plan, it’s estimated the stabilization reserve will lose another $14 million this year, bringing it well below the two-month requirement. The OCPS plan compares positively to other districts in the area.

We will provide further information as it becomes available.