Florence 1 board approves revised teacher contract after yearlong staff input

The Florence School District 1 Board of Trustees voted to approve a revised teacher contract after administrators presented a draft they said was shaped by roughly 25 school-based listening sessions and review with teachers and district counsel. The board approved the contract by voice vote after a presentation and brief discussion.

District staff said the revisions were the product of nearly a year of engagement with teachers and a review of contract language used in other states and districts. “This is almost a year in work,” Nate Marshall, Chief People Officer, told the board, describing school meetings, follow-up emails and collaboration with teachers of the year and legal counsel.

Marshall highlighted key changes included in the draft: removal of the phrase “tentative location” in favor of “location,” language committing administration to “every effort” to limit changes in teacher assignments, moving the salary notice near the top of the contract so teachers know the salary offered before signing, explicit inclusion of unencumbered planning time in the contract, removal of extracurricular duties language (because those are covered by separate agreements), and insertion of explicit references to sick leave, personal days and eligibility to join the district’s sick-leave bank.

“Let me know right out the gate what my salary is,” Marshall quoted teachers as saying; the contract now includes a sentence that the salary listed reflects the employee’s 2024–25 salary and that a July salary letter will reflect steps and any legislature- or board-approved increases. He also described adding a provision that a full-time employee may join the sick-leave bank by donating one sick day and, if approved, access up to 30 days for catastrophic illness.

Superintendent Robert O’Malley (identified in the meeting as Dr. O’Malley) and board members praised the process of soliciting teacher input. Mistina Cruz, a North Vista teacher who was introduced to the board as the incoming president of the South Carolina Education Association, was recognized during the presentation; administrators credited teacher leaders with contributing feedback.

After administration’s presentation, the board chair asked for a motion to approve the revised contract form. The motion was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting minutes provided.

The board’s packet contained a redline draft and a summary of changes; administrators said the district attorney reviewed the language before its presentation. No new salaries or step amounts beyond what was already included in the packet were enacted by this single approval: administrators said actual firm salary letters reflecting step placement would be issued in July once legislative and board budget actions are final.

Implementation note: staff said changes are intended to clarify existing policy entitlements and make several benefits more explicit in contract language rather than create new entitlements beyond policy. The board’s approval was for the contract form presented; personnel placement and salary letters will follow the district’s normal processes.

Ending: The board approved the contract form after the presentation and the item moved on to subsequent personnel and budget items on the agenda.