The state Auditor General’s final report about the Martin County School District is available. The report, released today, has two “significant deficiencies” and three “additional matters.” Auditors found no “material weaknesses,” which are the most serious findings.

See the report here.

STUART — A maintenance employee who was fired earlier this year is suing the Martin County School District, saying Superintendent Nancy Kline retaliated against him and other employees after her husband was denied a building official job there.

Javier Suarez, a maintenance manager, was one of two employees fired.

Kline recommended in March that Suarez and Larry Stonecipher, a mechanical specialist, be terminated after an internal investigation found they weren’t following school board policies related to bidding, purchasing and contracting. Their supervisor later resigned.

The school board OK’d the moves. (more…)

STUART — Teachers in the Martin County School District voted today to ratify a contract that will provide each of them with a $300 bonus this year.

Eighty-four percent of teachers who voted approved the contract.

School officials and union representatives reached the settlement in December after one negotiating session — a stark contrast to last year when the two sides went to impasse — and agreed that raises were not possible with this year’s budget constraints. Martin schools have lost about $9.6 million in revenue this year compared to the start of the last school year, school officials said.

Most teachers in the district received a 5.25 percent raise last year after negotiations went to impasse. A special magistrate recommended that the district accept the teachers’ plan, but district officials disagreed. The school board eventually voted to accept the district’s plan.

This year’s agreement provides instructional personnel with a one-time $300 bonus and resolves 22 contract-language issues, including increasing to five the number of personal days a teacher may take consecutively.