Melrose Paraprofessionals, Schools Reach Tentative Contract Agreement

MELROSE, MA — Contract negotiations between the Melrose School Committee and the Melrose Public Schools' unit of union paraprofessionals may be complete thanks to a new tentative contract agreement announced on Friday.

The deal comes more than five months after a previous paraprofessionals contract expired. It also follows several months of public demonstrations and debate as union educators and their supporters have pushed for paraprofessionals contract provisions including higher wages.

The Melrose School Committee and the Education Association discussed their tentative agreement in a joint statement Friday, detailing a new three-year deal.

Paraprofessionals would see substantial increases in compensation under the deal thanks to new pay scales, cost-of-living adjustments and market adjustments, according to the statement.

There will also be a retroactive pay increase to the beginning of the school year if parties finalize their agreement.

Beyond pay, the School Committee and the Melrose Education Association said their agreement enhances training and professional development opportunities while supporting recruitment and retention of paraprofessional staff members.

Hashed out in recent negotiation sessions, the deal now heads back to the Melrose School Committee and the Melrose Education Association, which will have to approve and ratify it for it to take effect.

The previous Melrose paraprofessionals contract expired at the end of June simultaneously with the district’s contract with its teachers.

Teachers have rallied alongside paraprofessionals and other supporters at recent events, pushing for salary increases and more planning time as they have moved forward without a new contract.

The School Committee has discussed negotiations in various statements, saying it is hopeful for an agreement while noting a need to balance contract provisions alongside larger district and city financial factors.

Both the School Committee and the Melrose Education Association recently weighed in on negotiations via separate statements just over a week before their Friday announcement.

Friday’s joint statement from the School Committee and the Melrose Education Association didn’t address the current status of teacher contract negotiations.

School Committee Chair Jen McAndrew and Melrose Education Association President Lisa Donovan later both declined to comment when contacted regarding teacher contracts on Saturday.

Melrose educators, who enacted a work to rule protest earlier this year amid frustrations over contract negotiations, have continued to demonstrate in recent days, though, regularly gathering outside Melrose schools with signs.

Social media messages from the Melrose Education Association around these demonstrations have continued to note contract asks including salary and prep time requests.