Florida high school sports coaches could see raise with potential bill: Report

The bill would propose a $15 per hour for minimum hours worked

Author:
Andy Villamarzo
Publish date:
Mar 9, 2024 10:15 AM EST

Could high school sports coaches be seeing a raise sooner rather than later?

According to a report by USA Today’s Jon Santucci, Florida Coaches Coalition is working hand-in-hand with state Rep. Adam Anderson, R-Palm Harbor, on a potential bill that could see coaches paid $15 per hour for a certain minimum number of hours.

Per the report, football head coaches would be required to work a minimum of 1,500 hours a year, which would mean the equivalent to a $22,500 stipend.

For other sports like baseball, basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball, head coaches would be required to work 1,000 hours a year for a $15,000 stipend. It doesn’t stop there, though.

Per Santucci, head coaches in other sports, as well as assistant coaches for football, would be required to work a minimum of 750 hours, which would be an $11,250 stipend.

According to a document published on the Atlanta Public Schools web site, the supplemental pay for varsity football head coaches in Georgia’s largest school jurisdiction, for the 2024 fiscal year, is $13,000. Offensive and defensive coordinators receive a supplement of $7,000, while other assistants receive $6,000. Middle school coaches receive a supplement of $3,200 and their assistants receive $2,600.

The proposed bill would bring Florida towards the top when it comes to paying their coaches in football and every sport.

As was pointed out by Santucci in a March of 2023 report, the FHSAA does not control coaching salaries in states. It is done by the individual counties and school districts in the state.

According to Crestview head coach Thomas Grant, in Okaloosa County, which is on Florida’s Panhandle, the coaching supplement is designed to bring the total salary for a teacher-coach to the $75,000-$80,000 per year range. For most cases, football wise, Okaloosa has the highest supplemental stipend in Florida.

Dr. Andrew Ramjit, the executive director of the Florida Coaches Coalition, is hoping to have the bill presented in front of state legislators by January, 2025.

Per the report, Ramjit said he’d like to link coaches' compensation to whatever the Florida High School Athletic Association decides on name, image and likeness. The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) board of directors had its first discussion in regards to NIL in late February.

“What we’re asking is that coaching supplements be attached to mandatory hours paid for hours working as opposed to school districts guessing how many hours they’re working,” said Dr. Andrew Ramjit, executive director of the Florida Coaches Coalition per the report. “That’s just paying these coaches minimum wages. Coaches have been unfairly treated and overlooked for the job they put in. I like to call coaching the No. 1 dropout prevention program. The work coaches do is overlooked by school districts and teacher unions.”