Introduction

AFC News: Welcome Reception a Success, Welcome New Members and More

AFC News: Welcome Reception a Success, Welcome New Members and More

AFC hosted a well-attended reception for Fulbright Scholar Dr. Regiani Zacarias last Tuesday after Convocation in the President’s Lobby.  It was a delight to welcome her to Santa Fe College. See photos below.

Our next brown bag lunch member meeting will be noon – 1 p.m. September 11 in S 29-30.  Please bring your ideas and let’s start planning our fall activities.  As always, bring a friend.

Please welcome our newest members:  Dr. Kimberly Fugate-Roberts, Terri Hall, Tim Ross, Dorothy Stroman,  Krystal Nelson, and Rhobin Harpe

Continuing Contracts:

As you know, the AFC has been deeply involved in the revision of SBR 6A-14.011 Continuing Contracts.  A rulemaking workshop was originally scheduled for August 31 at Seminole State College.  This is a process step required by statute before a revised rule is submitted to the SBOE for consideration.  This workshop has been postponed and not yet rescheduled. The SBOE was scheduled to hear the rule at its October 8-9 meeting at Valencia College.  The impact of the workshop postponement has not yet been determined, so there is a possibility the SBOE’s consideration of the rule may also be delayed.

There is a public comment section available now on the SBOE web site.  The link to that web page is https://app1.fldoe.org/rules/default.aspx.  Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the link. You can enter your comments in the space provided.

Just in from Mike Brawer:

On September 7, the Florida Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the FRS co-pay law suit lead by the FEA and several other employee bargaining groups.  The AFC is not a party to this suit however due to our strong working partnership on this matter with the FEA, School Supt’s and School Boards our concerns have been carried forward along with theirs. Certainly, whatever the decision, it will affect full-time employees at all our colleges.

There is no timetable on when the court renders its final edict on the matter.  It could be 3 days, three months, or even longer.  Either way, if the suit holds, and one of the attorneys I met with yesterday is confident their argument is right, as evidenced by the Judge Fulford 2nd Circuit court ruling, the payback of 3% will probably become a significant budget issue and a negotiated process that could take much longer. Total dollars collected by December are estimated to be about $1.2B, none of which went into the FRS.  It all went into general revenue to offset employer contribution costs across the system. So a general appropriation will need to be made in order to authorize the re-payment.

I will follow up when I learn more.

Welcome reception Photos: