Teachers at Clearwater High, Countryside High and across Pinellas County will head into the new school year without the massive premium hike they feared, after the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association and the district reached a health insurance agreement on Wednesday, Aug. 5.

Under the deal, employees on the family plan will pay about $475 per paycheck. That's far less than the roughly $1,200-per-month cost teachers had warned about at school board meetings this summer. Individual-plan employees will pay $111 per paycheck, a $10 increase from last year.

The agreement also locks in salary raises: teachers with 10 or more years of experience will receive just under $3,000 more per year, while those with fewer than 10 years will get just above $2,500 more annually.

The resolution came six days before the Tuesday, Aug. 11, first day of school.

What was at stake

For weeks, teachers packed school board meetings to describe what the proposed premium hike would mean. At the July 28-29 board meeting, one teacher testified that monthly premiums would jump from about $700 to $1,200 for family coverage.

PCTA President Tracey McConnell told the board at that same meeting that she had heard teachers say they would have to choose between insuring a spouse and insuring a child.

"I really, truly believe that this is the best that we were going to do," McConnell told Tampa Bay 28 on Aug. 5. "If I thought that forcing would have mattered, it would have helped, then I would have been all in on doing that."

School Board Member Laura Hine acknowledged the strain at the July 28-29 meeting, saying the healthcare situation would have "a negative impact on our employees" even as the board explored cost-saving measures.

What comes next

The agreement establishes a new six-week check-in schedule between the district and unions to discuss healthcare. McConnell said those meetings will focus on helping employees maximize their coverage and working toward on-site health clinics for staff, noting that other Florida districts already operate such clinics with reduced costs on medications and procedures.

The school board had previously authorized the Florida Educator Health Trust, a nonprofit, to audit the district's healthcare contracts. Superintendent Kevin Hendrick described that move as exploratory, aimed at identifying ways to save money going forward.

The district had not independently confirmed the agreement's terms as of Tampa Bay 28's Aug. 5 report. A ratification vote timeline has not been announced.