ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The teachers union in St. Johns County has come to terms with the school district over COVID-19 leave for teachers and one-time bonuses for educators.
Under the tentative agreement, all St. Johns County employees will get eight personal COVID-19 days to use for quarantines and coronavirus testing. The leave can’t be used for family-related quarantines and no at-home COVID-19 tests are accepted. Once formalized, the change will be retroactive to July 1.
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Right now, teachers are forced to use their personal days for COVID-19 related issues.
The two sides also agreed to a one-time payment for all employees not covered under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ pandemic bonus, which only went to classroom teachers and principals. Left out were groups like paraprofessionals, librarians, school counselors, deans and cafeteria workers.
Now, in St. Johns County, all employees who did not receive the original supplement will get money, including $1,000 for full-time employees and $500 for part-time employees. The employees will receive their payments on Nov. 15, if the agreement is approved by the St. Johns County School Board.
Roughly 175,000 Florida teachers and 3,600 principals received $1,000 bonuses, part of a $200 million investment sought by DeSantis and passed by the Legislature this year.