PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The Pinellas County School Board has approved an agreement for pay raises and better working conditions for teachers in the county. 

  • Pinellas County teachers get pay raise
  • Current teachers to receive 2.55% raise
  • New teachers to start at nearly $44K annually

This good news for the Bay area as school districts have been working to keep pay competitive in order to retain teachers.

After months of negotiations, bargaining teams reached the deal last month with 95 percent of teachers supporting this deal. 

Current teachers will receive an overall raise of 2.55 percent and new teachers will now start at nearly $44,000 per year — the highest starting teacher salary in Tampa Bay. 

In addition, teachers will no longer have to provide the administration with formal lesson plans or attend as many group planning meetings. Ultimately, giving them more time to focus on teaching in the classroom. 

Teachers will start seeing their raises in their paycheck on March 1. The raise will be retroactive to July 1.