For Immediate Release

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Andover School Committee to Vote on New Teachers Contract

ANDOVER — School Committee Chair Susan McCready announces that the Andover School Committee Negotiation Subcommittee and the Andover Education Association Unit A have agreed to extend their 2014-2017 collective bargaining agreement through August 31, 2020.

School Committee members will vote on the new three-year contract during a meeting on July 6 at 7 p.m. in the School Committee room at the School Administration Building, 36R Bartlet St.

The School Committee’s Negotiating Subcommittee and the teachers union’s negotiation team began the process in February, and over the last five months met numerous times before reaching an agreement.

Subcommittee members included McCready, former School Committee Chair Joel Blumstein and Town Manager Andrew Flanagan. The group was assisted by town and school labor counsel Elizabeth B. Valerio of Deutsch Williams, School Committee members Paul Murphy and Shannon Scully, and Superintendent Sheldon Berman and his staff.

“This was a thorough and detailed negotiation conducted in full collaboration with, and participation from our town manager,” McCready said. “Having Andrew at the table with the School Committee was an asset to reaching this agreement. I am pleased on many levels with the results.”

As part of the new contract, Andover Public Schools will extend the school day at all levels by 15 minutes beginning in 2019. This will result in an additional 75 minutes each week or the equivalent of 7 1/2 school days each year.

The teacher salary schedule will also increase by 6.35 percent over three years – 1.5 percent for the 2017-2018 school year, 2 percent in the 2018-2019 school year and 2.85 percent in the 2019-2020 school year when the student day will be extended.

In a move that Town Manager Flanagan estimates will result in a $4.9 million reduction to the town’s health insurance costs over the next 10 years, school employees will increase their contribution to their insurance premiums. Staff who start with the district on or after July 1, 2017, will pay 30 percent of the premium cost of HMO plans.

“This agreement provides for long-term cost savings for the town, increased educational opportunities for our students and allows the district to continue to attract and retain the highest quality teachers,” said Blumstein, who was the chair of the Negotiating Subcommittee.

The Andover School Committee would like to thank the AEA negotiation team led by Pat Thompson and Brian Shea for their spirited but respectful approach to these negotiations, its outside counsel Liz Valerio, Town Manager Flanagan, and Superintendent Berman and his team.

For more information on the contract, visit Andover Public Schools here.

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