WESTHAMPTON — Teachers in the midst of contract negotiations and their supporters showed up in force at Monday’s Hampshire Regional School Committee meeting to advocate for increased compensation.
The committee moved its meeting from the school library to the auditorium to accommodate the audience of more than 40.
Chris Overtree, who said he was a new resident who had seen “good things” in the school district, warned that the school could lose its ability to attract and retain the best staff if it does not pay them fairly.
Carol McMurrich, whose husband teaches at Hampshire Regional, praised the school for fostering close relationships between teachers and students, and sounded a similar concern.
“I’m sick of this American idea that we try to see how little we can get away with paying people,” she said.
Parent Jen Marshall of Williamsburg said she was shocked when she heard about the teachers’ salaries and what they’re being offered.
“The teachers here are so good,” she said.
Over the course of five negotiating sessions, according to the Hampshire Regional Education Association, the School Committee has offered teachers a three-year contract with annual raises of 1.25%, 1.25% and 2%. The current contract expires Aug. 31.
“We have not had an annual raise of more than 2% in a decade,” union President Greg Reynolds said outside the meeting. “We’ve fallen behind.”
School Committee Chairperson Kim Schott said in an email that the board is committed to working with the union “to come to a fair and fiscally responsible agreement.”
Schott said the association has proposed yearly raises of 5%, 5% and 8% for teachers and 5%, 5% and 10% for support personnel over the coming three years.
“The district is continuing to negotiate the salary increases but does not believe that 18 to 20% raises over three years plus steps is fiscally responsible,” Schott wrote.
According to state Department of Education figures on teacher salaries for the 2019-20 school year, the latest available, Hampshire Regional teachers earn an average of $70,833, ranking them below Belchertown, Southampton and South Hadley, but above Easthampton, Hadley and Northampton. The average teacher salary across the state for that year was $84,638.
Teachers do get step increases, Reynolds acknowledged, but he said it’s a 10-step scale, so longtime faculty no longer receive them.
Without specifying what the teachers are asking for, Reynolds said only that it’s “a ways away” from what the committee is offering. Salaries are the main sticking point in the negotiations, he said. Both sides said progress has been made on a number of other items.
Veteran teacher Warren Smith told the committee he had always felt honored and respected at the school. He said he has talked to new educators who have told him they want to come to Hampshire Regional, but that pay is a deterrent.
Emma Berman, in her first year teaching at the school, said teachers are leaving the profession.
“We owe it to the students,” she said. “When we support our teachers, we support them.”