Lee school board hit with $2,373 pay cuts, now match first-year teacher pay

Lee County school board members are now paid the same as first-year teachers.

This stems from a 2018 law passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called for all Florida school board members to be paid at either the salary set by the state or match the pay of an entry-level teacher in their respective county — whichever is less.

For Lee’s board members, this meant a $2,373 pay cut to $40,500 — something most of the seven-member board called a non-issue.

“I believe it’s fair,” said Debbie Jordan, who represents the District 4 seat. “That’s what the teachers are making, so I see no issue with it being that way.”

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Prior to the law going into effect, the board members were paid $42,873.

The pay adjustment did not go before the board for a vote, but was handled administratively with human resources. Although the law took effect July 1, the cut didn’t show up in the seven elected officials' paychecks until the end of September.

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This was three pay periods into the year, which means each member was overpaid $395 between July 1 to Aug. 31.

“The salary adjustment was made for the pay period starting Sept. 1 and first appeared on their Sept. 30 paycheck,” explained Rob Spicker, a spokesman for the district. 

This overage will be taken out of their paychecks over the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2020, Spicker said. He did not say why there was a delay.

The cut is fair, said Melisa Giovannelli, the school board's District 2 representative.

“I don’t even know why we're even making that — it’s a civil-duty job,” she said. “We’re not there for the salary and the money, or otherwise I would have not ran to began with. I’m not here for the money."

But the issue is a bit complicated for Chris Patricca.

The District 3 representative and board vice chairwoman has spoken out against proposals to eliminate pay for Florida school board members.

“I am in the prime earning years of my life, and my husband and I decided that I would sacrifice some of my earning potential in order to serve in this role," she said. "Complete elimination of school board member pay would have made it impossible for me to serve in this role."

Although she feels the cut, Patricca said she understands and supports “where the legislature is coming from to make our pay equal to teachers.”

She would like to see the state look at education funding so districts could have more resources and flexibility in budgeting teacher pay.

This idea was on the minds of nearly all the board members, who mentioned the cut in pay illustrates how little teachers make for the jobs they do.

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Chairwoman Gwyn Gittens, who represents District 5, said she had no problem with the cut.

“I believe that’s the way it should be,” Gittens said. 

As a former teacher, she focused her concern on how teachers in the state of Florida are paid overall, and how funding will shake out for the recently announced plan by the governor to raise starting teachers’ pay to $47,500.

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In Lee County, that would be a $7,000 jump for first-year teachers and put their pay at a level usually not met until an educator has spent 10 to 12 years in the classroom. This would put seasoned classroom teachers at a similar pay to new hires straight out of college. 

While she said this is a great benefit to new hires, Gittens said it's not going to bode well for retention efforts. Her hope is that salary cuts for elected officials may help the cause of advocating for better teacher pay "across the board."

Mary Fischer agreed, saying she knows too many teachers who struggle to “keep a roof over their heads.”

“If this pay cut achieves that purpose, then that’s a good thing,” said Fischer, who represents District 1.

"Personally, I am fine with that. I really do believe we need to make every effort to call attention to teachers’ funding and be able to fund it adequately — to not only hire teachers, but retain them.”

This was also a talking point for at-large member Betsy Vaughn, who spent 38 years in the classroom. The District 6 representative spent eight years in Lee County schools.

“Being a teacher is a lot of work,” she said. “Honestly, I always felt guilty that I was getting more than a first-year teacher.

“This is not to say we don’t work hard on the board,” Vaughn added, “but I know how difficult it is to be a teacher.”

More:Lee County School Board approves teacher raises

The cut seems fair to Kevin Daly, the president of the Teachers Association of Lee County.

He pointed out that the board members put in a lot of time for their elected roles, but most have other sources of income.

“New teacher pay," he added, "sounds like a good number to me."

Cathleen Morgan, the District 7 at-large member, could not be reached for comment.

Connect with this reporter: pmccabe@news-press.com

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