Harwood School Board responds with contract negotiation details
January 11, 2024 | By the HUUSD School Board Editor’s note: Harwood School Board Chair Kristen Rodgers read the following comments at the board’s Jan. 10 meeting. In attendance were about two dozen district support staff members advocating for a resolution of the union contract covering support staff employees. The agreement expired June 30, 2023.
Thank you for attending tonight’s board meeting. In addition to the general public here tonight, we appreciate the attendance of our support staff members and greatly value all that you do for the students of our schools.
We know that negotiations can be difficult. I would like to share some expanded comments based on what I shared on behalf of the school board when individuals email the board about the importance of settling the contract.
As a board, we worked hard to reach an agreement on a new contract.
Our work actually began in May 2022 when the school board approached the association and proposed amending the last year of the old contract to grant a 21% increase in wages for the 2022-2023 school year. The school board made this unanticipated offer because of the hard work of our support staff and the school board’s desire to pay higher wages.
The board feels it is important for the community to know the major elements of the board’s last offer, based on negotiations with the support staff:
FY24 Raise of 5% and paid lunch for a total increase of 8.81%
FY25 Raise of 4% and paid lunch for a total increase of 7.51%
FY26 Raise of 3% and paid lunch for a total increase of 6.29%
The addition of paid lunches was not part of the board’s original offer but was agreed to based on items the support staff negotiators felt were priorities. This addition will also qualify many additional employees for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Additionally, the board also offered the creation of a sick bank for support staff employees after receiving a counteroffer following mediation in October. This offer was not accepted by the VT-NEA representative.
We note that it is common in contract negotiations for both sides to offer concessions. Recognizing the need to continue to compensate our support staff, the board’s original proposal did not ask for any concessions and only represented offers to increase compensation as well as some benefits.
It is important to remember that the board wants to be as generous as possible and continue to increase wages for our valued support staff. At the same time, as board members we need to weigh that desire against the ability of many in our community to fund our schools in a time when property taxes are expected to increase at a much higher rate than in past years. This balancing of priorities is not an easy charge for the school board but it is part of our job.
Now, there are a couple of rumors that the school board has been hearing that I would like to briefly address. One rumor is that the school board pulled its last offer from the table. That is false.
Another rumor is that the school board did not respond to an offer extended on October 31st. That is also not true as the board’s chief negotiator countered that offer to the VT-NEA representative with the creation of a sick leave bank but it was rejected putting us at the next step which is an independent and neutral fact finder.
I will also mention every single formal offer from the support staff negotiating team presented to the board was countered with an offer, every single time.
We hope that a fact finder can help get the contract settled. When the fact finder’s report comes in, the school board will re-evaluate its offer based on the information that is provided to us from that neutral third party.
In the end, there was not much separating us from an agreement. The school board would like to have a finalized contract just as much as the support staff so that we can move forward together to focus on the needs of our students.
On behalf of the entire board, we appreciate your advocacy and thank you again for your hard work with our students.
We look forward to continuing to work together to find a solution that meets the combined needs of our support staff, the school board, and our taxpayers.