Santa Rosa school board denies union appeal over counting administrative years toward teacher pay, 4-1

The Santa Rosa County School Board voted 4-1 on Jan. 16 to deny a Step 3 grievance filed by the Santa Rosa Professional Educators (SRPE) that sought to require the district to count years served in administrative positions as “qualified years of service” for teacher salary placement.

The union argued that the district’s practice of crediting some former administrators’ administrative years toward teacher pay violates the master collective bargaining agreement’s definition of qualified years — which, the union said, is limited to full‑time teaching experience. The superintendent’s representatives told the board the district has followed a longstanding practice and a Human Resources policy and that granting the remedy would risk undoing settled individual teacher contracts and expose the district to legal liability.

SRPE presenters, including union president and chief negotiator David Godwin and SRPE representative Ms. Shavers, told the board the district’s August 27, 2024 salary report added a new column titled “admin years for teacher salary placement” and that column appeared only in 2024 salary reports. Godwin said the practice had been applied inconsistently: some former…