Teachers at Clearwater High, Countryside High, and every other Pinellas County public school could lose their union's voice at the bargaining table if the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association fails to hit a membership threshold imposed by a new state law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

PCTA President Tracey McConnell told Tampa Bay 28 that she plans to visit a different school every day once the year begins to recruit members and hear their concerns. The district's first day of school is Tuesday, August 11.

"The only thing it's really doing is making it so that I'm going out and talking to teachers and organizing around the things that teachers need," McConnell said of the law.

The stakes are straightforward. Under Senate Bill 1296, which the Legislature passed on Wednesday, March 11, and DeSantis later signed, public-sector unions that don't maintain 60% membership among eligible employees must face a recertification election. In that vote, at least half of all bargaining-unit employees must participate, and a majority of those who cast ballots must vote yes. If the union loses or too few people show up, it is decertified. The district would then set teacher pay and health insurance on its own, with no obligation to negotiate.

The law exempts police, firefighter, and corrections officer unions. Teacher unions, bus driver unions, and cafeteria worker unions are not exempt.

The PCTA's current membership percentage has not been made public, so it is unclear how far the union needs to go. McConnell's assignment as full-time PCTA president runs through Wednesday, June 30, 2027, according to a Temporary Duty Elsewhere approval the Pinellas County School Board granted at its Tuesday, May 19, meeting. Board members Caprice Edmond, Dawn M. Peters, Katie Blaxberg, Lisa N. Cane, Laura Hine, Eileen M. Long, and Stephanie Meyer were present.

The drive comes at a difficult moment for the district. Pinellas County Schools is cutting roughly 250 teaching positions for 2026-27 after projecting about 4,200 fewer students, according to Tampa Bay Times reporting in April. The county has the second-highest cost of living in Florida, and the number of teachers in the district continues to decline, WUSF reported in June.

Statewide, the picture is mixed. Since the 2023 predecessor law, SB 256, banned automatic dues deductions and raised the membership bar, more than 100 bargaining units representing 63,000 employees dissolved. Yet in 209 decertification elections held under that law, teachers voted to keep their unions every single time, according to CBS News Miami. FEA President Andrew Spar said Florida teacher unions gained 4,000 new members after SB 1296 passed.

Retired Pinellas teacher Linda McGeehan, a longtime PCTA supporter, told Tampa Bay 28 that the union's work benefits students directly. "When you're watching out for us, you're watching out for the students, because you're making the working conditions better for the students," she said.

The exact date of a potential PCTA recertification election has not been announced. Families and teachers can track developments through the Pinellas County School Board's meeting agendas on BoardDocs.