Melrose Schools, Educators Finalize Paraprofessionals Contract

MELROSE, MA — The Melrose School Committee on Tuesday approved a new contract with Melrose Public Schools paraprofessionals, finalizing what was previously a tentative agreement a matter of days after the Melrose Education Association itself voted to ratify it.

As negotiators mark a milestone in their negotiations this year, though, talks between the Melrose School Committee and the Melrose Education Association have continued still without a new contract agreement for Melrose teachers.

“Work remains to be done to reach an acceptable agreement,” the Melrose Education Association said of the teachers contract in a statement last week.

The union, officials said, is “co­­­mmitted to returning to the beginning table with the Melrose School Committee.”

“I think we can get there,” Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur said this week on the topic of an eventual deal.

Melrose’s contracts with its school paraprofessionals and teachers expired earlier this year.

As negotiations have proceeded through recent months, educators have ramped up protests, calling for a new agreement that includes a series of key contract requests.

Parties announced a tentative agreement in paraprofessionals negotiations earlier this month, sending the matter back to the Melrose School Committee and the Melrose Education Association respectively.

Now in effect, that paraprofessionals contract will increase compensation while adding training and professional development opportunities and backing recruiting and retention measures, as noted in a joint statement from the School Committee and the Melrose Education Association.

The agreement will also increase the workday for paraprofessionals beginning with the 2023-2024 school year to match the student school day, according to a city statement discussing the contract on Wednesday.

The three-year deal will run retroactively from the beginning of the current school year.

The Melrose Education Association said it was “pleased” to announce that it had ratified the paraprofessionals contract on Dec. 15.

Melrose officials noted the School Committee’s approval this week, with School Committee Chair Jen McAndrew saying in the city's statement Wednesday morning that the committee was “proud to support this agreement.”

McAndrew then discussed work ahead involving both the School Committee and the Melrose Education Association.

Just hours earlier, educators had gathered outside City Hall for a rally.

There, educators noted their paraprofessionals agreement while also protesting the state of teacher contract negotiations, which recently saw union members overwhelmingly reject a prior proposal for a potential deal.

The “no” vote, according to the Education Association, was largely due to dissatisfaction with a wage proposal and “unacceptable language around working conditions.”

With their recent vote behind them, educators recently filled out contract “wish lists” for the holiday season, which they placed in gift-wrapped boxes to be brought to Brodeur as part of Tuesday’s Melrose Education Association rally.

“We’re here,” Melrose Education Association President Lisa Donovan told rally attendees. “We’re standing up for ourselves, which, in fact, teaches our students that it is OK and you should stand up for yourself and what is right.”

Brodeur briefly spoke with Melrose Education Association representatives as they visited his office on Tuesday.

He discussed current negotiations in comments moments later.

“What I think we all want is fair contracts that recognize the value that our teachers, that our paraprofessionals — quite frankly, that all our city employees, either in collective bargaining units or not — give to the city,” he told Patch. “The unfortunate trick to that is that we live within a world where our finances are tight.”

Brodeur said he respects “where they’re coming from,” with regard to Melrose teachers and Melrose Education Association negotiators.

“I wish I didn’t have to keep an eye out for everything else,” he said. “But I do.”

“We’ll keep at it,” Brodeur said.

Melrose’s teachers contract negotiations have moved forward this year alongside other contract negotiations in Malden, Woburn, Stoneham, Medford and beyond.

Malden and Haverhill educators went on strike in October over frustrations with the state of their negotiations.

Melrose and Woburn educators, meanwhile, have been among area unions declaring “work-to-rule” actions as part of their protests.

At the state level, Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page has attended numerous rallies and other events in various communities including Melrose in recent months.

He was back in Melrose this week for the Melrose Education Association’s latest rally.

He previously said in an interview last week that there has been increased activity in educator union negotiations throughout the state this year. This, Page said, particularly comes after years of COVID-19 pandemic learning and stress for educators.

“There's a renewed sense of commitment to making sure the schools have what they need, which means what the students need and what the educators need,” Page said.

Those needs, Page continued, “end up being the same thing.”

Page noted common efforts across negotiations to increase pay for education support professionals, which include paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and many others.

“They need to be compensated fairly and they have been making poverty wages,” Page said.

Page discussed additional common contract asks across the state centered around school district staffing, teacher compensation and preparation time, among other things

Where district officials in many communities have pointed to budget constraints, Page said unions have highlighted money at the federal level as well as at the state level through programs like the Student Opportunity Act and Massachusetts’ recently approved ballot question that looks to add a 4% tax for those making over $1 million-per year. Though the increase was only recently approved, and though its revenue will be subject to the State Legislature’s appropriation process, proponents of the tax increase have pushed to use money from the tax in support of transportation systems and public education.

“They are saying this is the time to have the lowest paid be caught up and to have everyone at least keep pace with inflation,” Page said of educator negotiations on questions around compensation.

“People are waking up saying ‘You know what, we don't have to take this anymore,’” Page said.