USEP Update 4/5/2022

INSTRUCTIONAL – Last Thursday, the USEP and District Instructional Bargaining Teams met for a bargaining session. During this meeting, the District officially passed the first economic proposal for the 2021-2022 school year. Their proposal contained a 4% supplement for all employees in the Instructional bargaining unit and raised the base salary for teachers to $45,200. The supplement would count for FRS but does not raise the base salary. USEP did not agree to this proposal. We will be returning to the bargaining table on Monday to pass our economic proposal.

SRP – Last Thursday, the District passed the first SRP economic proposal of the 2021-2022 year. The proposal contained a four percent supplement (4%) for every SRP in the bargaining unit. The supplement would be non-recurring and therefore would not reflect a raise in pay for the following school year, but would count toward FRS earnings. USEP has been reviewing the economic offer and we will be going back to the table early next week. At that time, we will be prepared to pass our economic proposal.

REFERENDUM – At this morning’s School Board meeting, School Board members directed Superintendent Browning to draft a resolution to put a ballot initiative on the November general election ballot. This is something that USEP President Don Peace has asked for repeatedly over the last four-plus years. The ballot initiative, if passed, would provide a secondary means of income to fund employees and salaries. This would be a huge step in allowing Pasco to compete with the surrounding districts that already have similar referendums in place. You can read the entire article here – https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2022/04/05/pasco-school-board-readies-referendum-on-special-property-tax/