Pasco Employees Ratify New Contracts
April 10, 2013

Eighty-four percent of the teachers and 89 percent of SRP voted to ratify their contracts for the current school year and put to rest any plans to furlough employees this year.  Last night, after counting teacher and SRP votes, USEP announced approval of the most recently negotiated contracts with the District School Board of Pasco County.  Fifty-eight percent of teachers and 60 percent of SRP cast ballots on Thursday, April 4, 2013. 

Again this year, The teams spent much time/effort negotiating the legislatively-mandated teacher evaluation system.  USEP held off bargaining over insurance and economics to allow the newly-elected Superintendent to review district resources so as to avert the two furlough days budgeted by the prior administration to address a $23 million shortfall.  USEP had strongly objected to using furlough days to balance the budget instead of implementing more cost-savings.  Click here to read more

Elementary Workload Grievance Settled!
April 10, 2013

Late last week, USEP and the District reached an agreement to resolve the long-standing Elementary Workload Class Action grievance that was filed in October 2012.  Issues included ever-increasing student assessments, meetings, and planning time issues.  The resolution addresses many of these concerns.  To see the specific topics/resolutions, please click here.

History: Elementary teachers asked USEP to review, investigate and address the work load that had spiraled out of control over the last several years.  USEP assembled a “task force” of dedicated teachers who volunteered their valuable time to work with the USEP staff to identify specific concerns that existed.   USEP spearheaded several meetings with District leaders over 2 years to resolve many or all of these concerns.  With no meaningful resolution in sight, USEP filed two Class Action grievances that were signed by over 1,400 teachers.   Click here to read more

No-Shows and Late Cancellations Cause Problems at District Health and Wellness Centers
April 9, 2013

 Despite some confusion and notices to the contrary, The District Health and Wellness Centers (HWC) will NOT start docking employees’ pay for no-shows, lateness and last-minute cancellations of appointments.

A District employee contacted USEP over spring break after visiting a HWC and reading a posted notice informing employees about a $20 “No-Show/cancellation fee” for the second “No-Show” within a 6-month period. The notice stated that “this amount will be deducted from the employee’s next pay period.” Click here to read more