SOUTH HADLEY — After a particularly contentious contract negotiation cycle that began in the fall of 2021, the school district and the South Hadley Education Association have solidified their contract agreements.

Members of the 270-member union of teachers, paraeducators and other staffers in the district voted by simple majority to move forward with the agreements in mid-January, and the School Committee approved them at its Jan. 26 meeting. Even though the contract passed, some 46% of members voted against the pact.

School Committee Chairperson Allison Schlachter said she thinks that the whole community will feel the benefit of the resolution.

“We are thrilled that the contracts have been ratified,” Schlachter said. “The School Committee has been determined to find fair and sustainable compromises during negotiations and I am pleased to say that we have done just that.”

The four-year contract for the teachers, department heads, paraprofessionals and education therapy assistants includes pay increases of 2% in year one, 2% in year two, 2.5% in year three, and 3% in year four, said Eric Friesner, vice chairperson of the committee.

In addition, department heads will also get a reduction in their workload for a one-year trial period, according to Jennifer Voyik, assistant superintendent for finance and business operations. Currently, high school department chairs are teaching five courses, which drops to four under the new contract.

The idea behind the reduction of classes is to give them additional time to have interdepartmental collaboration, support new faculty, provide observations to support staff, and analyze MCAS scores, Voyik said.

The head of the guidance department will also have a 25% reduction in their caseload compared to the rest of the guidance counselors to allow for additional prep time for their other responsibilities, she said.

The student service department chair’s classes would be cut from four classes to two to allow for additional prep time for responsibilities that include special education testing and eligibility, and facilitating student accommodation requests for standardized testing.

“This would be for one year, as a trial run to see how it works,” she said.

In addition to protesting for higher salaries throughout the negotiation process, the union went “work to rule” in November, a two-month period in which they worked only their contracted hours.

Some members not happy

Despite the compromise, Amy Foley, president of the association, said that not all union member were in favor of the increases offered by the school district.

“As happy as I am, I also need to inform you that unfortunately 46% of teachers voted against ratification,” she said at the Feb. 2 meeting. “As you know, in a year and a half, we’ll be sitting down to negotiate our contracts. And unfortunately, the fact that 46% of the teachers voted against the current agreement tells me that the next time around the settlement needs to be much improved.”

Moving forward, Foley advocated for everyone working together in the best interests of South Hadley students by keeping and recruiting the “best educators.” She also added that she believes the COVID-19 pandemic “broke” public education as evidenced by a nationwide teachers shortage.

“I think Massachusetts is experiencing the lowest amount of enrollment in their teacher preparation programs than they ever have before. And this is because of the low pay compared to other professions and the unmanageable workload,” she said. “It can no longer unfortunately, it can no longer be accepted for teachers to work excessive hours beyond contracted hours.”

Despite the damage to public education, Foley says that it’s not beyond repair. She cited one of her fondest memories in her teaching career was the work that the district did collectively with the School Committee on a letter-writing campaign to support the passing of the Student Opportunity Act into law, which provided a significant amount of funding into public schools.

Schlachter said that the campaign was something she’d never forget and called it a “beautiful experience” to have everyone come together for something they believed in.

Acting Superintendent Mark McLaughlin said that while he appreciated Foley’s comments, he felt that the vision has always been a shared one. He added that the School Committee and the administration are very aware of the effects of the pandemic.

“We are deeply, painfully at times, aware of those challenges,” he said.

Coming out of the negotiations, Schlachter said she found herself “confused” as to what happened to the relationship between the union and the committee.

“I don’t know how else to make it clear on where we stand in funding our teaching and funding our schools,” she said.

Open School Committee seats

School Committee member Kyle Belanger reiterated Schlachter’s sentiments having been a part of the letter-writing campaign. He also advocated for residents to take papers out for the three open seats on the School Committee and noted that he would not seek reelection.

“As of right now, there are not enough people with papers out to fill the seats,” he said.

Nomination papers are available in the Town Clerk’s office at 116 Main St. until Feb. 16 for two seats for three-year terms on the committee as well as a seat for a one-year term.

The annual town election will take place on Tuesday, April 11.

For more information, visit southhadley.org/620/Elections or call 413-538-5030, ext. 6183.

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>