JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis put pen to paper last May and signed into law what high school extracurricular leaders hoped would lead to better pay.
That wait continues but the hope for change does, too.
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More than a month after that Senate Bill 538 took effect, only one district (Bay) has gone public with its plans to incorporate booster clubs being able to give extracurricular leaders like coaches the ability to earn more money.
Men or women who coach sports receive supplemental pay for their work. The supplements for a head football coach in the News4JAX 11-county Florida coverage region range from $3,809 (Putnam) to $7,217 (Nassau).
Those supplements are collectively bargained. SB 538 gave extracurricular leaders the ability to go to their superintendents and ask for more money above their union-negotiated supplement.
But since school districts have been hemorrhaging money due to public school students fleeing for private and charter schools, money for raises hasn’t been there.
That’s why the most realistic option for pay increases for coaches or band directors has been to seek pay from booster clubs. Some smaller districts already allow that. That’s not the case in many places, though, including districts like Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns.
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Mandarin head football coach Toby Bullock earns the same supplement ($4,699) as head coaches in Duval County made in the 1990s.
“Good Lord, I hope so,” Bullock said when asked if he thought coaches here could see a pay increase. “Why can other states do it when we can’t, I guess would be my question.”
Clay High head coach and Florida Coaches Coalition director Jeff Gierke said the group has had conversations with numerous school districts about the law.
The reality is that what works in one county may not apply in another.
The Coalition has aimed to have as many conversations with as many districts as possible since the House and Senate overwhelmingly voted to pass the bill and send it to DeSantis.
There’s also an equitability element involved. While 11-man tackle football is the sport cited in many cases regarding staffing and hours involved, Gierke said coaches in girls sports are long overdue for pay increases as well.
“We would have liked everything to get done after it passed the House and give more time to the counties to put something out. But I really think now that the genie’s out of the bottle, they want to make sure that it’s right,” Gierke said. “I would think this time next year, you’re going to have more than half of the state already have their stuff in place and the other ones will be working to get something out.”
News4JAX reached out to four local school districts (Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns) on their status with implementing Senate Bill 538. Only St. Johns responded by our deadline.
Deputy Superintendent Paul Abbatinozzi said the district was still in an exploratory phase of seeing how something like SB 538 would work in its entirety.
“There has been no decision made to date. At this current stage, we are continuing to offer the supplements identified within our existing negotiated agreement, which includes the extended season component for our athletic coaches.
Looking ahead, we are also examining current facility use practices through Facilitron that could provide additional fiscal opportunities for staff offering camps, clinics, etc. for children in St. Johns County.
Although our recent focus has been negotiation efforts for 2026/2027 school year with the St. Johns Education Association and St. Johns Education Support Personnel Association, it remains our intent to continue to look closely at all aspects of Senate Bill 538, analyzing both the pros and cons of how it will reshape our athletic and extra-curricular programs moving forward.
I want to reiterate that we are incredibly grateful for the dedication of our staff and adjuncts who work hard to keep the focus on our athletic and extra-curricular programs.
St. Johns County School District Deputy Superintendent Paul Abbatinozzi
Delayed raise or no raise at all, Mandarin’s Bullock said that coaches are conditioned to keep leading and making an impact on young athletes because someone did it for them, too.
“The problem is people think we’ll continue to do it and we will,” he said. “Point blank. We’re going to keep coaching whether we get paid or not, but it shouldn’t be that way.”