Hillsborough school board approves raises; starting teacher pay rises to $48,003.50
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Summary
The Hillsborough County School Board unanimously approved tentative agreements that move all eligible instructional, support and administrative employees one step on new salary schedules and raise starting teacher pay to $48,003.50, with top-of-scale staff receiving a $2,000 one‑time payment.
The Hillsborough County School Board on Sept. 30 unanimously approved tentative agreements covering instructional staff, educational support professionals and administrators for the 2025–26 school year, moving eligible employees one step on newly negotiated salary schedules and raising starting teacher pay to $48,003.50.
The agreements cover three agenda items (C404, C403 and C402) the board voted to approve after presentations from district negotiators and bargaining-unit representatives. Superintendent Van Ayers told the board, “School Board of Hillsborough County and the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association have reached a tentative agreement for instructional and educational support employees for the 2526 school year.”
Why it matters: the settlements affect roughly 17,000 represented employees and about 1,270 non‑represented staff and are the first step in implementing salary changes that district officials said will appear on the Oct. 17 paycheck. Dr. Patton, who spoke for district staff, said a detailed FAQ would be emailed to employees and that “these pay rates are eligible to employees are scheduled to reflect on their October 17 paycheck.”
What the agreements include: the district said HCTA represents approximately 13,300 instructional employees and 3,700 educational support employees; the union ratified its contract by 96.7% (instructional) and 96.5% (ESPs). All eligible HCTA instructional and ESP employees will move one step on new salary schedules effective July 1, 2025. Several ESP positions were regraded; employees at the top of schedules will receive a one‑time $2,000 payment. Non‑represented employees (about 1,270 positions) and administrative employees (principals, assistant principals and site/district administrators) received parallel step movement and the same one‑time payment for those at schedule maximums.
Union response and employee input: Rob Crete, speaking for the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, thanked the board and bargaining team and said the work is not finished: “I will not stop until we get a livable wage for the teachers and support professionals that are doing this great work.”
Board discussion and passage: board members praised the bargaining teams and emphasized that while the raises represent progress, they said more remains to be done to reach livable wages. Member Combs said teachers “deserve a paycheck that reflects their impact.” Member Gray noted the district still has further steps to reach regional parity and to reduce reliance on food banks used by many employees. The motions to approve C404, C403 and C402 were moved and seconded on the record and each passed unanimously.
Implementation: district staff said the communications timeline will include an FAQ to employees and payroll changes on the Oct. 17 paycheck. Further bargaining and budget decisions were discussed as ongoing work.
Ending: The unanimous votes mean the district will begin implementing the new salary schedules and one‑time payments immediately according to the timeline the district provided to the board.
