The Alachua County School Board heard over 30 employee concerns about an unsettled salary contract at a meeting Tuesday.
The Alachua County Education Association, the county’s teacher union representing over 3,000 employees, rejected the tentative salary offer of 1.6% made by ACPS Dec. 19.
Salary negotiations between ACPS and the ACEA reached an impasse in September. The union proposed a 3.2% salary increase for the 2024-25 school year, while the district offered a 1.6% raise. The impasse raised concerns about teacher retention and compensation as employees faced rising costs of living and increasing job responsibilities.
Teacher salaries are negotiated every year. For the 2023-24 school year, ACPS teachers received a 3.5% salary increase, with retroactive pay from the beginning of the contract period, which was in early July 2023.
Before public comment, ACPS Spokesperson Jackie Johnson laid out statistics about salaries within the district.
“The median salary for teachers in ACPS during the 2023-24 school year ranked 24 among Florida’s 67 counties,” she said. “Data also shows that among the nine districts in North Central Florida, ACPS is consistently among the top three in median teacher salaries.”
During the meeting, the crowd of nearly five full rows whispered and nodded as each public commenter shared. Every comment was followed by applause and finger snaps from the crowd, even after Board Chair Sarah Rockwell said not to.
Kara Ryan, a third grade teacher at Kimball Wiles Elementary School, opened public comment by describing the amount of hours she spends working outside of her contract hours, she said.
“If we can so easily acknowledge the external stressors that affect student performance, why aren’t we addressing how financial security impacts teachers?” she said. “We prepare children to be the leaders of tomorrow when we can’t afford to take care of our own families today.”
Megan Lamon, an Exceptional Student Education teacher at Kanapaha Middle School, invited board members to her classroom to understand her challenges firsthand, she said.
“Please stay all day, because it’s really easy to leave after one class period,” she said. “Sit in on my IEP [Individualized Education Program] meetings, learn what goes into them … and then tell me that I don’t deserve a premium for my skilled work.”
Danielle Englehorn, a third grade teacher at Parker Elementary, said she found Johnson’s salary data presentation disrespectful.
“At the beginning of this meeting, we were informed that our system of abuse was better than other systems of abuse, so therefore we should feel grateful and appreciated,” she said. “We feel abused… no gaslighting here.”
Halfway through the meeting, the ACSB unanimously voted to table all budget amendments on the agenda to the board’s next meeting.
Madison Knelle, a third grade teacher at Shell Elementary, said she felt “paralyzed” by her workload after she admitted she has ADHD. She told the board she won’t be working for ACPS next school year.
“I’ve decided that I will not be teaching here next year,” she said. “Another district deserves my time and my passion, and you do not.”
Extension of Superintendent’s contract
The ACSB also unanimously voted to extend Superintendent Kamala Patton’s contract. Her contract will be extended for a year, until late June 2026.
Board members expressed their support of Patton since she began her position in November 2024.
Board Attorney David Delaney said both ACPS and the ACEA will return to bargaining until “all agreements and salary are ratified by ACEA.”
District 2 Board Member Thomas Vu closed the meeting by thanking the employees who spoke during public comment.
“These are hard criticisms, but they’re hard truths,” he said. “Please keep bringing that truth to power to us.”
The next board meeting is Feb. 5.
Contact Sara-James Ranta at sranta@alligator.org. Follow her on X @sarajamesranta.
Sara-James Ranta is a third-year journalism major, minoring in sociology of social justice and policy. Previously, she served as a general assignment reporter for The Alligator's university desk.
