From Rhonda Chavers, president of Santa Rosa Professional Educators:
On May 11, 2017 there was an impasse hearing between the Santa Rosa County School Board and Santa Rosa Professional Educators (SRPE). The process has been lengthy and time consuming, but SRPE is very proud to announce today, that Special Magistrate Robert Hoffman has recommended that Santa Rosa County School Board respect and offer Santa Rosa Professional Educators’ (SRPE) salary increase proposal of approximately $3.3 million, as well as the awarding retroactive pay back to July 1, 2016.
In his recommendation, Magistrate Hoffman said “In short…the evidence is sufficient for the Special Magistrate to recommend that the Union’s salary proposal…is fair, reasonable and in the end a just settlement for these parties.”
Many thanks go to SRPE’s bargaining team members and SRPE’s legal counsel for their work to achieve this result. Special thanks go to our negotiation budget analyst David Godwin, whose testimony the magistrate found to be “perhaps the most insightful and significant testimony at this hearing…”. The next step in this process is a legislative hearing before the school board, where we hope the school board will honor the magistrate’s salary and retro-pay recommendations.
Rhonda Chavers
President
Santa Rosa Professional Educators
