STONEHAM – The Stoneham School Committee, in the interest of keeping community stakeholders informed, wishes to share the following statement about ongoing contract negotiations with Education Support Professionals (ESPs):
“The School Committee has engaged in several productive contract negotiating sessions with ESPs, and has achieved significant progress. We are working in good faith to reach terms that reflect the primary goal of putting children first and communicating the high value we place on the work of ESPs for our students, while also recognizing the fiscal realities of our time.
“Residents may have received leaflets on behalf of ESPs that cites an MIT Living Wage calculation. The Committee would like to provide fuller context to the information within the leaflet:
- The MIT study is based on a work year of 2,080 hours. Stoneham ESPs work 1,137.5 hours per year, or 55 percent of that amount.
- The leaflet cites a salary of $19,000 per year. This figure represents the salary of an entry-level ESP with no prior experience who works a 10-month year. Entry-level ESPs comprise only 8.3 percent of the ESP workforce.
- Entry-level ESPs begin on Step 1 of the salary schedule, and advance one step each year until they reach the top, Step 12. A step advancement includes both a salary increase and cost-of-living increase. Step 12 covers 30 percent of ESPs, the most populated single step.
“The Committee has offered contract terms that reflect the importance of ESPs in the District, while being responsible fiscally:
- The School Committee proposal eliminates two steps, thus allowing employees to reach Step 12 more quickly.
- The School Committee has proposed a contract that would represent a 13 to 15 percent salary increase for entry-level ESPs in the first year alone.
- For Step 12, the School Committee has proposed an hourly salary of $26.07 for FY23, $27.85 for FY24, and $29.68 for FY25. An individual earning $29.68 per hour and working full time would make an annual salary of $61,734.
- The School Committee also has proposed increasing annual longevity payments by 30 percent to 44 percent.
- The School Committee has also offered a professional development benefit, which is a new program that shows the value the Committee recognizes for ESPs that want to further their learning.
“Additionally, the MIT Living Wage calculation does not take into consideration a public sector’s ability to pay. Stoneham is constrained by a number of budgetary issues: other salaries, expenses, unfunded pension liabilities, long overdue capital projects (such as a firehouse and roof repairs to several town and school buildings), and meeting the cost of the Stoneham High School project. And Stoneham, like every other municipality, is not a business and has no ability to increase costs of goods and services.
“The Town’s budget priorities include expenses that directly benefit ESPs, such as active and retiree health insurance benefits. The town’s contributions represent a benefit valued at $5,988 to $19,819 per year, depending on the plan the employee selects. ESPs are entitled to the same full health insurance benefit that full-year, full-time employees receive.
“The School Committee’s proposal represents a package for which it anticipates the ability to obtain the appropriations necessary to fund the contract without facing a significant risk of budgetary cuts, such as layoffs. The union has rejected this offer, alleging that “there is other money available.” We invite community members to view our detailed line-item budget and negotiation documents posted on the School District website.
“The allocated salary funds in our budget have been maximized with our proposal. When a union tells the district to “find the money” to meet union demands, that money has to be taken from other budget line items. Our largest line item by far consists of personnel costs. De-funding line items to meet the STA’s salary demands would invariably require us to implement layoffs, a step that would be harmful to students.
“We also note that, when we build our budget, we must factor in the possibility of unanticipated expenses, much like when we all develop a household budget and provide contingencies for unplanned yet required expenses.
“After several negotiating sessions, the parties have reached agreement on many items but have not been able to settle the contract fully. The law provides for mediation as the next step when, despite the best efforts of the parties to settle a contract, they have reached an impasse.
“When a party files for mediation, a skilled and trained facilitator comes to the table to help the parties move past their impasse and settle the contract. No one walks away — the mediator joins the parties at the table.
“The School Committee believes that having a mediator at the table represents the most expedient path to a settled contract. Information concerning the collective bargaining process in general (beginning on page 18) and the mediation process in particular (beginning on page 86) can be found on the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations web site at: https://www.mass.gov/doc/a-guide-to-the-massachusetts-public-employee-collective-bargaining-law-1/download.
“We remain optimistic that we will expeditiously settle the contract on terms that are respectful, fiscally responsible and in the best interests of our students.”