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Highlands County School Board approves agenda, contract and salary-schedule revisions
Summary
The School Board adopted a revised agenda, approved the Highlands County Education Association contract for 2025–2028, waived a minimum qualification for a transportation mechanic, and approved an updated 2025–26 salary schedule; the superintendent also requested an executive session to discuss collective bargaining.
The School Board of Highlands County conducted several routine and substantive business items during the meeting and recorded motions and roll-call votes approving the revised agenda, a multi-year contract with the Highlands County Education Association, a staffing qualification waiver for transportation, and an updated salary schedule for the 2025–26 school year.
Superintendent Dr. Longshore asked the board to approve a revision to page 45 of the district salary schedule to correct wording and said the revised page copies would be uploaded to the district website. He also requested permission to schedule an executive session to discuss collective bargaining immediately following the Oct. 7 board meeting.
Board action highlights (motions, seconds, outcomes): - Adopt agenda as revised: Motion by Mrs. Howerton; second by Dr. Durrance. Roll call recorded votes of "Yes" from Halligan, Dr. Jones, Mr. Williams and the Chair; the motion carried. - Approve consent agenda: Motion by Dr. Durrance; second by Mr. Winnins. Motion carried (no public opposition recorded during the meeting.) - Approve 2025–2028 contract between the School Board of Highlands County and the Highlands County Education Association (HCEA) (Item 9b): Motion by Mr. Whiddon; second by Mrs. Howerton. Board discussion acknowledged the difficulty of negotiations; no public opposition was recorded and the motion carried. - Waive minimum qualification (two years’ experience) for the position of Mechanic 4 in transportation for the 2025–26 school year (Item 9c): Motion by Dr. Durrance; second by Mr. Whitten. Several board members voted "Yes" as recorded; the motion passed. - Approve updated and revised salary schedule for 2025–26 (Item 13a): Motion by Mr. Whitton; second by Dr. Durrance. Board members voted in favor by roll call and the motion passed.
Board members who moved or seconded items and the recorded yes-votes are listed in the meeting transcript; no "no" or abstain votes were recorded on these items in the public portion of the meeting. When motions passed, the chair announced the approval and the board moved to subsequent business.
Why it matters: The HCEA contract and salary-schedule approval affect district labor terms and employee pay for the upcoming school year; the executive-session request signals continuing collective-bargaining discussions.
The superintendent's request to schedule an executive session on Oct. 7 for collective bargaining was placed on the record; no executive session occurred during this meeting.
