Natick School Commitee, Education Association Reach Agreement

Natick MA

16 June, 2022

4:01 PM

Description

NATICK, MA — The Natick School Committee and the Education Association of Natick jointly announced on Thursday that they have reached a three-year collective bargaining agreement. The two groups participated in interest-based bargaining to reach the new deal. Through the process, concerns were resolved using a problem-solving method rather than exchanging proposals and counter-proposals. This approach resulted in a collaborative path to the new three-year contract agreement, which runs through the 2024-25 school year. The new agreement includes restructures of current pay scales, policies, and clarification ofprofessional responsibilities for some staff. The deal also adds classroom resources to addressstudent needs, expands professional development opportunities, and creates sub-committees toevaluate future areas of interest. "We thank the Education Association of Natick for their collaboration and cooperation in reaching this new deal," said School Committee Chair Cathi Collins. "This agreement reflects the SchoolCommittee's commitment to our teachers and staff, the majority of whom have more than 10 years of teaching experience. "NPS would not have weathered the last two years of instruction without their commitment," she continued. "They have already helped remediate the effects of the pandemic and will continue todo so for years to come. I firmly believe this is a good deal for our employees, families and taxpayers." This agreement also makes Natick a more competitive district by restructuring pay scales and offering additional benefits, which may attract new teachers to the district. Highlights of the agreement include a competitive pay schedule for staff and Unit B administration: ● Consolidation and restructuring of the district's pay steps from 15 to 14 for Unit A, restructuringof pay scales for Unit B, and pay increases for summer school nurses.○ Two additional steps added to Unit A (Step 20 in 2023-24 and Step 25 in 2024-25) toacknowledge and reward teachers who spend their careers at NPS. ● Cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) of three percent for the 2022-23 school year and twopercent each of the following two years for a seven percent total increase for Unit A.○ Unit B's COLA is 2.3 percent for FY23, 1.5 percent for FY24, and one percent for FY25.○ Occupational therapists, physical therapists, and board-certified behavioral analystsadded to Unit A. ● Adjusting the district's family and medical leave/parental leave policy to add time off fornon-birthing and adoptive parents.○ Birth mothers now have 12 weeks of parental leave, adoptive parents have eight weeks,and non-birthing parents receive four weeks and all may use their available sick daysfor pay during these periods. ● Adding special education coordinator positions and Unit B positions to address staffing needs.● Revised language on the district's leave policies.○ A revision to the sick bank policy allows for the caring of a sick family member.○ Allows qualifying personnel to exchange 12.5 banked sick days per year for one personalplus day. ● Addition of a half-day of parent-teacher conferences at the middle schools and high school.● Adds clarification of the professional responsibilities of part-time staff members and staff thatare members of multiple professional learning communities (PLC).○ Reorganization and added leadership opportunities for teachers to ensure every PLChas a leader. Natick School Committee, Education Association of Natick Agree to New Three-Year Deal: Page 2● Creates exploratory sub-committees to evaluate start/end times for schools, elementaryschool schedules, and the district's annual in-service learning day.● Increases the tuition reimbursement amount and creates additional professional developmentopportunities.○ Tuition reimbursements increase from $36,000/year to $45,000/year.○ The district provides professional development coursework to offer Master's-levelteachers and vice-principals a way to gain training and content knowledge in the areaof Natick's Profile of an Educator core competencies.○ Sets more consistent standards on graduate courses accepted for lane movement.● Restructures middle school intramural pay as follows:○ Current intramural pay raised to $35.72 (same as middle school coverage) with a threepercent COLA ($36.79 for 2022-2023).○ Middle school athletic coordinator pay raised to freshmen pay with a three percentCOLA (Step 1 - $2,961, Step 2 - $3,175, Step 3 - $3,595.73 for 2022-2023).○ Adds middle school Unified basketball stipend with a three percent COLA (Step 1 -$1,422.02, Step 2 - $the 1,525.22, Step 3 - $1,726.07 for 2022-2023). "We have appreciated the support of our School Committee and our school administrators in thiscollaborative effort," said the Education Association of Natick in a statement. "Our partnership has brought about a new contract that benefits all stakeholders and is highly responsive to the wishes and needs of educators, administrators, and the community. Over the life of this contract, we are also mutually committed to exploring additional goals to further the success of our district in response to its students, always essential to our decision-making process."