When I walked into the Niceville High School auditorium Wednesday evening for the final hearing on the long-standing impasse between the Okaloosa County School District and the Okaloosa County Education Association, the room was buzzing.

It was still roughly an hour before the meeting was set to start, but clusters of people wearing red were already chatting in the audience and official-looking people in suits were gathered at the front of the room.

I found a seat towards the front (and near a power source for my laptop) and got comfortable for what would become nearly a two hour meeting.

Read the story on the meeting »

The number of people entering into the room quickly increased. By the time the meeting was set to start, people were lining the walls and spilling out into the hallway.

The atmosphere in the room was tense when the school board walked in from behind the stage. They sat down at a set of long tables in front of the room.

When Board Chairman Rodney Walker banged the gavel to begin the meeting, the crowd didn’t immediately hush. It just sort of dwindled off slowly. After going through the traditional prayer and pledge, the meeting got underway. The district presented first because it declared the impasse back in September.

No one from the district actually spoke during the presentation instead they left that to hired attorney Mike Mattimore.

Mattimore outlined the issues at play in the impasse – teacher step increases and advanced degree supplements – and then said the district couldn’t pay the step without running the risk of having to take “desperate measures” down the road.

The crowd was mostly quiet during his presentation, but that all changed the moment that Greg Butler, the executive director of OCEA stepped in front of the podium.

Before he had hardly finished his first statement the crowd erupted into cheers and applause. More than once pieces of his speech were lost midst the cheers.

The crowd, which was mostly wearing red to help show them as a unified front to the board, remained enthusiastic through the remaining speakers which included OCEA President Karen Peek, Kenwood teacher Marilyn Vu, Destin Middle teacher Patrick Cole and Edge Elementary teacher Cynthia Tuznik.

Here are some of the high points from their speeches:

 Vu

“I’m not a union member, but I am a teacher. I would like to be a member, but I can’t afford it.”

She said this is her third year of teaching after working as a classroom assistant for 12 years. She told the board that she loved her job, and selected her job partly because she believed it would help her financial stability. But that hasn’t proven true, the single mother said.

This year she hasn’t been able to pay for her son’s wrestling equipment and is living in government subsidized housing and her child’s health care is subsidized.

“For me and those like me, it’s (the step increase) a necessary for coping with today’s economy. It’s a necessity for keeping a hope of a better future alive.”

 Cole

He really fired up the audience from the get-go and began by asking teachers to raise their hands if they had worked unpaid overtime and spent more than $200 of their own money for the classroom.

Then he turned to the board and said, “This is a really simple story. You owe, have the ability to pay and for some reason you have chosen not to… I mean no disrespect, but how disgusting.”

He went on to speak about how the board had a contract that they needed to honor it. He said that in America people pay what they owe.

“If a contract can be ignored or voided at the whim of a more powerful partner… then we don’t live in what I consider America anymore.”

He pointed out this was the time for the board to live what they preach to students about good citizenship.

He really, really had the crowd fired up when he was finished.

Tuznik

She was the last of the speakers and didn’t say much, but still made her point.

“We are already doing more with less and now you are expecting us to do more for less.”

She asked that the board grant the step as part of “an effort” to help future generations be successful.

At that point, OCEA had used up their allotted 30 minutes for the hearing and Butler asked that the board allow several non-union teachers to come forward to speak. He got a lot of support from the audience, but the board did not acknowledge his request. Instead, Walker asked the board members to start making comments. Cindy Frakes, who was set to go first, asked to defer her comments and have Chief Financial Officer Rita Scallan come forward to answer some questions about the financial situation of the district.

The crowd was less than pleased with Scallan’s responses and continuously interrupted her and called out questions. When she was finished, many people in the audience were frowning.

Little else was said before Walker asked for a motion and board member Chuck Kelley said he moved the district’s proposal. The motion was seconded by Vice-Chairwoman Cathy Thigpen and Walker then asked for all those in favor to raise their hands. All five board members raised their hands and just like that, three months of impasse were over.  

The crowd erupted into questions and without really acknowledging them, the board members filed out of the room by walking behind the curtain on the stage. That action only seemed to fuel the frustration in the room. People demanded an opportunity to address board on the issue, one person even went to the podium microphone to speak. I didn’t catch all comments because the room got kind of chaotic, but I’ve listed below a handful of the comments I heard.

These are from students who attended the meeting:

• “Someone would make a solid point and they wouldn’t even acknowledge it.” Baker School senior Brian Benoit

• “I loved it. It was just interesting. It was dramatic. I’m ready for the next one, when is it?” Baker School senior Kamyra Jones

• “I’m going to take note of all those names and not vote from them.” Baker School senior Breanne Burgess – she also added that this meeting convinced her not to go into the teaching profession

 These were comments I heard at large:

•  “The superintendent bought us out.”

• “They don’t want to hear from Okaloosa County.”

•  “We pay you don’t forget.”

•  “We vote.”

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