BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Editor
LAKE BUTLER — Like many small school districts, Union County has seen its share of problems in attracting talented new teachers and in retaining the ones they have.
It’s the same story for all local governmental agencies in small counties. They do not pay enough to keep good people and have become a training ground where new people can come for a couple years of experience to add to their resume, and then move on to work in a larger county where they will be paid more. For school districts this is even a bigger problem since fewer and fewer college students are going into teaching as a profession. In fact, quite a few colleges and universities have closed their colleges of education due to lack of enrollment!
School districts are not losing demand for teachers but are finding the number of applicants is decreasing, especially in the smaller, often lower paying districts. This situation often makes attracting and hiring the “best and the brightest” from among the applicants.
According to Union County Superintendent of Schools Mike Ripplinger the school district has been experiencing all these issues for several years and has started having a hard time retaining new teachers, with many leaving for “greener pastures” after just one to three years.
“It has been getting more and more difficult to fill positions and also to keep people we hire,” Ripplinger said. “With fewer people going into the teaching profession, districts have been hiring people from the private sector — professionals in a field, and often very proficient in it — but not formally trained as educators. Many of these make fine teachers, but they often have to learn classroom skills and how to effectively interact with students.”
Union County is the smallest county in the state and, as such, the local income from the school district’s share of the ad valorem taxes charged all property owners is not as much as in larger counties. In the past, this has led to more conservative budgeting in areas. All school districts have areas where there is not “wiggle room” in their budgets for materials and equipment to provide effective education experiences for their students, Union County among them.
Ripplinger, school district Chief Financial Officer Renee Prevatt and many others got to work to find every dime in the budget that could be diverted from its current assignment into the line items for employee salaries and they found enough to make their idea work.
As of the beginning of the new district budget year (2022-23) on July 1, all teachers and other employees (non-instructional and administrative) will begin with a new salary schedule that will not only raise their annual salary immediately, but that will guarantee annual raises to current vested (13 years of experience or more) and competitive starting pay for newly hired teachers.
Currently, Union County pays new teachers $41,350 annual salary with, in some cases, various supplements for advanced degrees or out of the classroom responsibilities such as for coaches, advisors and club sponsors. This is less, or only slightly more, than most of the surrounding counties, with Braford County starting new teachers at $40,275, Baker at $42,428, Alachua at $44,500 and Columbia at $42,975. Under the new schedule, new Union teachers will start at $46,000. After their 12th year in service, these teachers will receive a raise of $500 per year for the rest of their years with the county. Veteran teachers, how have served the district for 13 years or more, will see a significant raise in the first year this schedule is in effect and then will also receive a $500 per year increase until their retirement from the district. This is in addition to whatever supplements the individual is entitled to.
The school district, which is the largest employer in the county, is not forgetting the contribution of its non-instructional employees to making the system run smoothly. These employees, from bus drivers to food service workers, to custodians and many others, will also be seeing more money in the paychecks thanks to the new payroll structure.
“We greatly appreciate all of these people for all that they do, but appreciation only goes so far.”
This state mandated minimum wage increase for school employees to $15 will raise the pay of many of the non-instructional staff substantially, but Ripplinger said he felt that it was not enough. The new plan will institute a mew minimum of $15.25 per hour for the 2022-23 school year and will institute supplements to their pay based on fulfillment of contracts and year of service for all employees with 5 or more years of service to the district. This supplement will provide an additional $100 per year of service if all employee contractual obligations are met.
Union County Teacher’s Union President Nancy Griffis attended the May meeting of the Union County School Board and thanked Ripplinger and the members of the board for their attention to a matter that, she said, had been a problem for some time. She said that her research into the situation strongly indicated that the problem of retaining teachers was almost entirely a matter of money and said she thought that the new pay schedules would eliminate it.
Ripplinger said he has also found that the teachers and staff are also quite pleased and said that he knew of several teachers who had been planning on leaving deciding to stay.
“The district can afford this raise this year and the new pay schedule is permanent, but it is unclear as to whether we will be able to do more next year,” Ripplinger said. “This raise is not only going to help our people now, with each paycheck, but also because the higher amounts will all be figured into their retirement calculations. Raises and supplements go into the retirement figures, but bonuses do not. These raises will also benefit the local economy and, most of all, will benefit the students over their careers here by providing schools with more stability and continuity in the services they provide. Our district has made a large effort to invest in those who serve our students. This move will make us more competitive as we seek the best people to join us to meet the needs of our students and community.
Correction
There was an error in the May 5, 2022, article in the Union County Times titled “Union looking for best ways to spend ARPA funds.” The amount of land purchased by the county for a fire refill station in Providence was five acres (not 10 as stated in the article) and the purchase prices was $37,800 (not $195,904). The Times is sorry for the error and any problems caused by it.
