Teachers union plans to pack tonight's St. Lucie school board meeting

FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Hundreds of teachers are expected to pack the St. Lucie county school district headquarters for another round of negotiations tonight.

Currently the room is not filled to capacity but more than 150 teachers are already in attendance.

The most immediate salary increase the Classroom Teachers Association could see is a $742 bonus to be implemented in  the last paycheck before this winter break, which would equal about $500 in take home pay. That is an increase from the board's last proposal of a $500 total bonus.

Aside from teachers bonuses, another big item the board is proposing today is the insurance plan.

The School Board wants school district employees to redesign and overhaul the current insurance plan for employees to reduce the costs for the board to be implemented in 2014.

Tim Bargeron, Director of Finance for the St. Lucie County School District, has said insurance costs are so high that they are part of what is prohibiting salary increases.

At the moment, more negotiations are taking place behind closed doors.

There will be more details as the story develops.