Melrose Educators 'Hopeful' Ahead Of New Contract Negotiation Session

MELROSE, MA — Melrose Public Schools educators said they were “hopeful” on Tuesday that negotiating teams will soon reach an agreement for a new set of educator contracts.

Melrose School Committee Chair Jen McAndrew separately shared her thoughts, saying she felt parties have been making progress in talks more than four months after previous contracts expired earlier this year.

The comments, made in a Melrose School Committee meeting Tuesday night, came one day after union educators and their supporters rallied outside City Hall to protest the state of current negotiations.

They, likewise, came on the eve of a new round of talks scheduled for Wednesday.

“We know that there’s an appetite and a desire to settle these contracts quickly and fairly,” Melrose Education Association (MEA) President Lisa Donovan told the School Committee Tuesday.

McAndrew said the School Committee remains “committed to settling contracts” to meet teacher and educator needs.

“We know that our educational professionals have endured unforeseen challenges in the classroom over the past several years,” McAndrew said. “Teachers deserve a contract that recognizes their hard work, expertise and dedication to our kids.”

She continued, reiterating previous comments that any finalized agreement will need to also “reflect the needs and fiscal realities of this city.”

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Melrose educators have been working through the current 2022-2023 school year to date under the terms of their now expired contracts.

Certain contract protections remain in place, McAndrew noted on Tuesday.

McAndrew said school district negotiators have also put forward new contract proposals. Parties have yet to reach a deal, though, with educators protesting as a result.

In rallies, in public comments in meetings and in messaging on social media, union educators have highlighted a series of asks including pay increases for teachers and paraprofessionals as well as more educator planning time. As weeks have dragged on without a contract, educators last week opted to step up their protests by enacting “work to rule” action, which will see educators continue to fulfill contractual duties while avoiding any non-contracted work, such as staying late after school.

"We cannot keep settling for less," Donovan said in announcing the work-to-rule move.

McAndrew shared her reaction on Tuesday, saying she was "disappointed by the MEA’s work-to-rule action and concerned about the potential impact on our school community."

Union leaders planned this week’s City Hall rally, drawing support from other unions throughout the region.

Rally attendees briefly chanted outside City Council chambers during a City Council meeting on Monday before a handful of stakeholders took the microphone to ask councilors for their support.

City Councilor Ryan Williams wore a Melrose Education Association shirt during the meeting. He later said in comments on social media that he "will always stand with" city teachers.

Councilor Manjula Karamcheti discussed work “to figure out how to move forward with our teacher contracts.”

"We put our money where our values are," she said.

On Tuesday, union leaders including Melrose Education Association Vice President Joellen Beaudet said they felt support on the previous evening.

“We are tired and we are wanting to get back to business as normal,” Beaudet continued as she spoke to the School Committee.

Educator contract negotiations in Melrose have moved forward on an increasingly public stage in recent weeks and months. Discussion around these negotiations has similarly intertwined with local and regional topics.

Malden, Haverhill and several other Massachusetts school districts have handled their own rounds of tense contract negotiations this year, with Malden and Haverhill teachers going on strike last month.

In Melrose, a 2019 budget override to help fund the schools has loomed large over current issues, as has a $2.2 million school budget shortfall that city and school officials had to scramble to address after they identified the problem in July.

Donovan discussed the shortfall and override money in a statement last week.

“Through the mismanagement of this administration, the schools have lost $2.2 million of those monies,” she said.

McAndrew pushed back on some commentary around the override and the shortfall on Tuesday night, saying “it is not accurate to say that ‘$2 million was lost.’”

The money has been utilized, McAndrew said.

She noted that the 2023 fiscal year budget which is shaping elements of current contract negotiations is separate from the 2022 budget that saw trouble due to the shortfall. The city and the Melrose Schools, McAndrew continued, were able to resolve shortfall obligations without drawing on 2023 fiscal year resources.

“No one ever promised that one override was going to permanently solve every funding concern in the Melrose Public Schools,” McAndrew said of discussions around the 2019 override.

“The override funding represented a very important set of investments to close some gaps and right-size some areas,” she later added. “That can’t, however, be the end of the revenue conversation in this community.”

Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur said in a statement Tuesday that the city is expecting about $2.2 million in new revenue next year to fund all city and school departmental expenses and contractual obligations. Roughly $746,000 of that money will likely need to go to expected increases in non-discretionary costs, Brodeur said, including health insurance and Medicare.

Read full statements from McAndrew and Brodeur here.