On Tuesday the TTA shared their current proposals in full
To see the rules for the open contract negotiations, click here; to see our Session 2 recap, click here; Session 3 is here; Session 4 here; Session 5 here; Session 6 here; and Session 7 is here. A copy of the current teachers contract is here, and the ESP (education support personnel) contract is here.
Find the School Committee informational page here, and the TTA contract information page here (this is a new site). And of course you can watch all the sessions on the Tewksbury TV YouTube channel.
The meeting opened up with the TTA going through their current proposals for the ESPs. You can find their side-by-side comparison of the proposals here.
There was a lengthy conversation about professional development and number of working days. In the past the ESPs had fought to work a 181-day year as opposed to 184 days because they felt the professional development offered on those three days didn’t apply to their positions. The district is looking to have them back in for 184 days and find ESP-specific professional development. The TTA would like to leave it at 181 days and give ESPs the option to stay for professional development as the contract now reads. There was consideration to add an ESP to the current professional development sub-committee.
In regard to salaries, the TTA is holding on their original proposal but said that the ESPs are all willing to work seven-hour days the first year of the contract.
ESPs being assigned to step up to cover for a teacher is still a point of contention. The TTA is asking to not have the language in the first year of the contract, but to compile data for that initial year. They’d like to track how often a principal can get no ESP to volunteer to step up. The data can be taken to the JLM (Joint Labor Meeting) to help make the decision if that language needs to be added to the second two years of the three-year contract.
The TTA was ok with the tuition yearly cap of $10,000 but would like to change it so ESPs can take up two courses a year, up to $1,000 per person. They also ask that the district send out a notification later in the year if there are still unused funds.
The TTA is asking that some of the stipends the district had removed be added back in. Examples are RBT (Registered Behavioral Technician), afternoon bus duty, CPI/Safety Care and Data Collection.
ESPs picking up duties, like lunch or bus duty, was another lengthy conversation. The district said that the increase to 7 hours from 6 hours 20 minutes will give the ESPs some prep time every day and leave them available to pick up some duties. The TTA is asking the language read that ESP duties will be equivalent to the teacher’s duties in a building, excluding DLC (developmental learning classroom) ESPs.
The district doesn’t believe that the duties should be equivalent as part of the ESPs’ job is to help supervise children. The ESPs say they are there to support students in learning. There was also a conversation about letting students into the building earlier so they’re not idling on buses for up to 20 minutes and have more time to eat breakfast. The ESPs were concerned they would be responsible for too many children offloading in the morning.
There are some Common Proposals still in discussion; the side by side can be seen here. One in particular is moving all subcontracted aides in house to be ESPs. The district doesn’t want to add this language to the contract in case they struggle to fill positions and need to fall back on a staffing agency. The TTS is asking instead for a statement of intent that this transition will occur.
TTA Contract
The TTA tentatively agreed to the Assault Protection Language.
The TTA is holding on their request for 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
The TTA is agreeable to most of the language about assignments, they are only asking that a staff member be informed no less than 10 school days before they will be moved, so they can prepare. There was some concern from the district about how they would inform someone 10 school days ahead if its the summer.
The TTA went through their entire current proposal. We’ll recap some of the points of conversation, and you can find all the current proposals from the TTA for teachers here.
The elementary teachers were concerned about the new times for their schools. Shifting the end of class from 3:05 to 3:20 for the Heath Brook and the Dewing would have the teachers’ day end at 3:40. The concern is twofold: One objection is that the later in the day it gets, the harder it is for younger students to focus. They also say the later end time makes it more difficult for those teachers to pick up their own children from school, or to make it to see their children play in afternoon sports. The TTA is willing to brainstorm school times with the district.
Parent/teacher conferences were up for discussion. The TTA is interested in moving to a mid-year evening conference and having a half day to catch parents who are unable to make evening meetings. The district pointed out there are times during the day that teachers are able to meet with families. And they are concerned with adding another half day to the calendar and losing more learning time. There was an agreement that currently the scheduling is not ideal for staff and families.
Both guidance counselors and special education teachers are interested in getting PLC (Professional Learning Community) time to co-ordinate and brainstorm with their collogues.
The TTA suggested adding an additional 5 minutes for both lunch and recess which would give teachers an extra 10 minutes of prep time.
DLC working conditions were rejected in the contract by the district, but the TTA wants to add them back in saying they all have working conditions.
The TTA is hoping to add time for a transitional meeting with special education staff between schools, so current teachers can share information about students moving up.
The district rejected class size limits, but the TTA is asking to add in a stipend if class sizes go over a certain threshold.
The TTA wants to have four personal days with the ability to carry one over per year, up to five.
There was another lengthy conversation about tuition reimbursement for teachers. The TTA is fine with the $85,000 cap per year but still would like $1,500 per person with the ability to use that for more than one class, and for the district to let them know about any funds left as the year progresses. The TTA wants the option to be reimbursed for more than one class. The district is concerned that if a teacher takes multiple inexpensive classes that they’ll jump a lane on pay scale and that will have a major impact on the budget.
Similar to the last meeting, this was mostly the TTA sharing their full proposal with lots of discussion but little consensus reached. ‘
The next meeting is May 9 at 4:30 at the Center Elementary School.
[…] TTA continue their contract negotiations today in a new venue. See the results of the last session here. […]