At a public hearing on September 9, 2025, the Martin County School Board unanimously voted to reject one of four recommendations from the special magistrate. The recommendation would have kept existing contract language on presidential leave in the 2024–2025 instructional contract. The Board reaffirmed that the contract contains provisions for unpaid leave for all District educators. This decision followed presentations from the District’s council and the Martin County Education Association (MCEA), who shared their positions on this issue.
This hearing was the latest step in a process that began in August 2024, when the District and MCEA reached a tentative agreement on the salary package and health insurance contribution, which the School Board subsequently formally approved on September 17, 2024. This included across-the-board raises, pay-for-performance adjustments, placement schedule updates, and increased contributions to health insurance.
MCEA delayed ratification and opted to pursue impasse over four remaining issues: the allocation of a small balance of unused raise pool funds ($28,003.33), a challenge to existing language associated with the Western Zone supplement, a challenge to existing language for campaign leave, and a challenge to existing language concerning presidential leave for the single individual serving as the MCEA president.
While the District remained available to pursue the resolution of these issues collaboratively and sought to avoid delaying issuing financial considerations already agreed upon, MCEA desired to proceed through formal arbitration.
After the first impasse hearing in December 2024, MCEA ultimately agreed to ratify the previously settled salary and benefits package, five months after the School Board’s approval, which occurred in September 2024. MCEA completed its ratification on February 10, 2025. The District issued adjusted salaries on the February 13, 2025, payroll and paid out applicable health insurance supplements on the March 27, 2025, payroll.
A second impasse hearing was held in March 2025, and in late May 2025, the special magistrate issued recommendations to resolve the remaining issues. On June 5, 2025, the District agreed to adopt three of the four recommendations issued by the special magistrate: allocating the $28,003.33 in unused raise pool funds to health insurance, affirming clarified Western Zone supplement language, and removing campaign leave language. The District declined the fourth recommendation proposing to retain the existing language referring to presidential leave of the individual serving as MCEA president. The magistrate recommended that this language remain as written in the contract, absent the voluntary, mutual agreement between the District and MCEA to amend or modify it.
The District invited MCEA to ratify the three adopted items as recommended by the special magistrate, but MCEA declined, insisting on all four. As a result, the 2024-2025 contract remained open through the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, despite the fact that the salary and benefits package was fully implemented.
Florida Statute 447.403 (4)(c) requires a public hearing following the special magistrate’s recommendations. To comply, both bargaining parties needed to coordinate availability. Scheduling discussions began in June with the intent to meet in August; however, conflicts arose between the bargaining teams’ calendars to secure a date that month. Ultimately, September 9, 2025, was the first mutually available date.
Following the decision made during the public hearing, the next step is for the District and the MCEA to update the 2024–2025 instructional contract in writing. The agreement will include the items both parties previously agreed to, as well as the issue addressed by the Board’s action on Sept 9. Once finalized, the contract will be submitted to both the District and MCEA members for ratification.