AMHERST — Conventional bargaining for a new contract, considered to be a more adversarial approach, is resuming between the Amherst Pelham Education Association (APEA) and the Amherst Regional School Committee as a collaborative, joint problem-solving process is being set aside by the union.
The School Committee issued a statement this week observing that Interest Based Bargaining, which led to a deal between the two sides four years ago, is being replaced with a process that will instead feature proposals and counterproposals until an agreement or compromise is reached.
Ending Interest Based Bargaining was decided in a vote Monday night by the union’s representative council, out of concern that the regional budget that will be voted on this spring by residents in Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett, and the Town Council in Amherst, was developed without union feedback.
“The APEA entered into this bargaining mode with the shared understanding that cost-of-living increases would be prioritized first, in order to meet the town’s budget deadlines this spring,” the union wrote in its statement. “That understanding was preempted by a budget prepared without input from the APEA bargaining team, undermining the collaborative process that is the underpinning of successful Interest Based Bargaining.”
The School Committee, though, observes that the negotiating work so far, which began in mid-December in hopes of reaching a deal by July 1, has yielded positive results.
“Our groups both share an interest in ensuring we continue to attract and retain high-quality educators and staff, with competitive compensation and annual increases as two ways to do so,” the committee wrote. “We also share an interest in crafting compensation approaches that recognize different levels of skill and experience, or specialized training and certification. And, both our groups expressed shared interest in building budgets and advocating for funding that supports the high-quality educational programs our students deserve and need.”
Keeping and attracting educators has been the highest priority for the union, according to its statement.
“By valuing educators and school personnel with supportive working conditions, Amherst will be on the cutting-edge of communities around the nation facing similar challenges,” the union’s executive board writes. “This community, with strong APEA involvement, has led the way to maintaining safe schools that have remained in person even during the largest COVID surge. This community can now lead the way to valuing the front-line workers who support students every day.”
The $33.17 million spending plan proposed for fiscal year 2023 for the regional schools is $1.26 million, or 3.9% higher, than this year’s $31.91 million budget.
At a budget hearing on the plans Tuesday, no comments were received from the public.
Superintendent Michael Morris said the budget features the same staffing model in place at the high school, middle school and Summit Academy this year. The committee will vote on the budget either March 1 or March 15 so it will be ready for action at Town Meetings in the three smaller communities.
The committee also notes that the compressed timeline is posing a challenge for negotiations, as budgets need to be finalized no later than mid-March. “We set an intensive meeting schedule so that we could get as much done as possible and integrate potential tentative agreements into the budget plans for the next year,” it said.
Getting the regional school budget approved is a priority, the committee wrote: “The School Committee and APEA have been very clear that we want our budgets to support the same high-quality programming next year for our students, and we will advocate for the funding to do that. At the same time, we need to be realistic about how far we can push. Our towns have a limited ability to increase revenue in a given year, which means there is an upper limit to how much of an increase in school funding each town can support.”
