Orange County School Board approves minimum wage increase

School board, OESPA collaboratively bargain contract

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The Orange County School Board has approved a minimum wage increase for hourly employees.

The school board held its regularly scheduled board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Ronald Blocker Educational Leadership Center.

Recommended Videos



Officials said the school board and the Orange Education Support Professionals Association collaboratively bargained a contract for the 2016-17 school year and the previous 2015-16 school year.

The compensation package for the 2016-17 school year moves the minimum wage for Orange County Public Schools to $10 per hour, from $9.00 in 2015-16, and makes adjustments to the OESPA salary structure to accommodate the new $10 minimum.

Officials said classified employees not affected by the district's new minimum wage of $10 per hour will receive a $0.38 per hour increase.

The compensation package for the 2015-16 school year provides for the elimination of pay grade 2 and moving all employees in pay grade 2 to pay grade 3, officials said. It also includes a $0.41 per hour increase to all classified employees who are employed with Orange County Public Schools as of June 30, 2015.

Additionally, employees who worked one day over half of the contract year for the 2015-16 school year and who retired on or before June 30, 2016, will receive a one-time-only bonus of $600, the district said.

School board officials said employees must be actively employed with OCPS at the time the increases are paid in order to be eligible to receive them.

Classified employees still have to vote. Officials said if ratified, the increases will pay retroactive to July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2015, respectively, or the first duty day of the employee’s work year for the 2016-17 school year.

The school board said the 2016-17 board of directors of the foundation for OCPS was also approved at Tuesday's meeting.


Recommended Videos