Update: Hope, Frustration As MPS Contract Negotiations Continue

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include information from a Melrose Education Association statement on Friday responding to recent School Committee comments about contract proposals.

MELROSE, MA — The Melrose School Committee this week noted progress in contract negotiations with various union bargaining groups after new negotiations in recent weeks.

The committee said it has approved a contract agreement with district crossing guards and is continuing talks with Melrose school teachers and paraprofessionals.

Where both the School Committee and the Melrose Education Association this week said they are nearing a deal on a paraprofessionals contract, negotiators are still trying to reach an agreement on a series of topics in teacher contract proposals, according to the education association.

Where the committee discussed proposed teacher contract provisions this week, the education association on Friday also pushed back, saying the committee had been spreading misinformation.

“We’re exhausted,” Melrose Teacher Nichole Goodhue previously said in public comment time at a School Committee meeting on Tuesday. “And it’s not our fault. This isn’t our cross to bear.”

Melrose contracts for teachers, paraprofessionals and crossing guards all expired earlier this year, leaving the schools operating through the first three months of the 2022-2023 school year under the terms of previous contracts.

Paraprofessional and teacher negotiations have moved forward without an agreement, prompting increasingly public protests from the Melrose Education Association.

Union members have staked out key requests for a new contract, including provisions for more teacher and paraprofessional pay, as well as more planning time for educators.

The Melrose Education Association in November then escalated its protests, voting to enact “work to rule” action, where union members work to the letter of their contracted duties.

The School Committee, through Chair Jen McAndrew, said in a statement this week that the committee had approved a new negotiated contract with the crossing guards. Though not discussing the terms of the deal, the committee said it would take effect upon a ratification vote from union members.

The crossing guards are represented by the Melrose Traffic Supervisors Association, rather than the Melrose Education Association.

“We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our crossing guards and for the care and safety they provide to our students and their families,” the committee said this week.

The committee continued, saying negotiators had been making “good faith efforts” to reach new deals with the Melrose Education Association over a 10-month span.

School Committee Discusses Contract Proposal

The committee said on Wednesday it believes it is close to an agreement with paraprofessionals, detailing an offer it said was currently under consideration to “substantially increase compensation through new pay scales.”

“It would also reflect provisions that we hope will support the important work that these vital staff members do in service to some of our most vulnerable students,” the committee continued.

The committee also said it has made “several strong offers” to the Melrose Education Association’s teachers unit, receiving additional funding from the city in an effort to settle a new contract.

Proposed compensation increases, the committee said, “would represent a substantial investment by the City, over and above what the School Committee had originally budgeted for this contract.”

“We heard from the community that they wanted to see additional funding brought to bear, and we have worked with the City to do so in a responsible way,” the committee said.

The committee said step and lane increases would result in increases ranging from 4% to 19% for teachers in the first year of a new contract.

Additional items, the committee said, would include reduced after school meeting hours for teachers, more preparation and planning time in elementary schools and an extra noon-release day, among other provisions.

"Given the revenue that we have available in the City, we believe these packages are the very best we can offer to the educators at this time," the committee said. "We are hopeful that these contracts will be settled soon."

Melrose Education Association Responds

The committee shared its statement on Wednesday a day after hearing from union members on Tuesday evening.

The Melrose Education Association responded in a statement on Friday.

The union said parties are indeed close to finalizing an agreement on a paraprofessionals contract. The union continued, though, discussing "unresolved issues" in teachers' contract negotiations, including topics of compensation, prep time and racial justice language.

The union in its statement called the committee’s comments on financial proposals and prep time “misleading" and "disingenuous.” The committee, the union said, has also “ignored a conversation” about racial justice language in current negotiations.

Reduced meeting time, the union said, would only translate to four minutes per day of extra planning time for elementary school educators under the contract proposal the School Committee recently discussed. That time, according to the union, would include transition time between classes.

The union continued, saying the district’s proposed reduction in meeting time would be “merely a shift in the way meetings will be held.”

This, the union said, would cause many educators to lose current common planning time with other educators.

Regarding pay, the union said the majority of Melrose educators are already at the top of the district’s existing pay scale, meaning they would only receive cost of living adjustments.

“Adjustments to the pay steps themselves are not raises; educators defer their maximum potential earnings by considerably more years compared to other professionals by agreeing to salary schedules that help their districts prepare budgets,” the union said.

The union noted that educators advance to higher pay by working over years in a district and by getting additional education of their own. Tuitions for such education, the union said this week, have been rising.

“Educators spend far more to further their education than what they gain in salary,” the union said.

The union said pay steps must be adjusted annually to keep wages fair and competitive. Annual adjustments, the union said, would also ensure cost of living adjustments to those already at the top of the district’s salary scale.

The union continued in its statement, saying it has made a proposal “to address racial justice and inequities in our schools.”

The union, the statement said, “is adamant about including this language in the contract.”

“The Committee has ignored a conversation about this social justice language and has rejected this proposal that also includes addressing the recruitment and retention of educators of color,” the union said. “The proposal advocates for implementation of additional supports for our students of color as well.”

Negotiations Continue

Members on Nov. 15 said they were "hopeful" going into new contract negotiations after a rally outside City Hall and comments to the City Council on Nov. 14.

Members on Tuesday still called for a contract. They also described their latest round of negotiations, though, with teacher Kathy Bishop saying she left feeling "disrespected," “disheartened” and “discouraged.”

Morale in the Melrose schools has been “in the toilet,” Bishop said.

The current situation, coupled with lower pay compared to neighboring districts, Bishop continued, has spurred talk of early retirement for some and job searches elsewhere for others.

"You are going to have a talent drain," Bishop said. "And who are you hiring to replace them?"

Goodhue recalled Melrose’s 2019 budget override, which has been a fixture in this year’s debate over educator contracts.

The override, which passed by a community vote, aimed to raise money through city taxes to help better fund the Melrose Public Schools.

District financial challenges have continued, nevertheless, with COVID-19 costs challenging the schools and recent errors, such as a $2.2 million budget shortfall discovered earlier this year, drawing ire from some in the community.

“What happened?” Goodhue asked on Tuesday.

“I had absolutely no idea that the city would struggle balancing a checkbook and making smart choices,” she said, referencing the years since the override.

Negotiators representing the Melrose School Committee and the Melrose Education Association are scheduled to meet again next week, McAndrew told Patch on Thursday.

Read the full statement from the Melrose School Committee on Wednesday here.

Read the full statement from Melrose Education Association on Friday here.

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Melrose Educators 'Hopeful' Ahead Of New Contract Negotiation Session