School Board and Teachers Negotiate Contract

Jackson County, Fla.- The Jackson County School Board faces the same financial pressures as local businesses, government agencies, and families. With growing demands from state and federal mandates, the board continues to wrestle with how to balance its budget while meeting all required standards.

The Times recently received an email from a concerned school employee, who wrote, “Just wanted to bring this to your attention again — the teachers are getting increasingly frustrated. They could use the support of the public to encourage the School Board to make a decision in a timely manner and to make the right decision for these teachers and stop the breach of contracts! I have attached screenshots of just a few teachers who have spoken out. Notice in one, it’s said that some aren’t going to speak up because of the stigma, they’re afraid of getting in trouble. The majority of teachers feel this way and fear repercussions for speaking out. Any assistance with this would be greatly appreciated.”

When contacted by the Times, Superintendent of Schools Hunter Nolen acknowledged the concerns and said, “We are in talks and negotiations with the unions now and look forward to completing those very soon.”

He also referred to the Master Contract with JCEA, which outlines teacher work requirements:

Article 5 – School and Teacher Duty Day (page 12)

5.1 – The teacher duty day shall be seven hours and forty-five minutes in length. The teacher duty day shall include at least one fifteen-minute break for each PreK–12 teacher, a thirty-minute duty-free lunch, and at least a fifty-minute daily planning period (or the weekly equivalent for special area teachers). Teachers requested to perform duty during their break or lunch period will receive compensatory time. Duty schedules will be determined by administration. On non-student days, the teacher workday may be altered but not exceed contracted working hours.

Reflecting on his own teaching experience, Nolen added, “I’ve done this for a long time, and sometimes I still go out to schools just to eat lunch with our students. We love our teachers, staff, and students, and we’ll continue to make Jackson County great with the resources we have.”

The Times will continue to follow this issue and provide updates as it develops.