Hello Friends of Hampshire Regional Educators
If you have kids at Hampshire, we appreciate the opportunity to teach them, and we hope they are having a terrific start to the year!
We want to update you on the ongoing contract negotiations for the Hampshire Regional School District. The School Committee has not budged on their offers for pay increases and they refuse to take into account the crazy cost of living increases we have been facing for the last few years.
Their current offer includes the following raises: 1.75% this year and 2% raises for the next two years. These offers do nothing to create competitive wages for our staff. The gap between our salaries and those of local districts will continue to grow. Our fear is that a large number of teachers are going to leave our district for better pay. The week before school started, we lost two faculty members to neighboring districts. One is making $10,000 more at her new school and the other is making more money and working less days at an elementary school in one of our sending towns. (On a side note: We have not been able to replace this faculty member and we are paying $110,000 to contract services to cover her job duties.)
Our union is disgusted by the low offers and the school committee’s unwillingness to truly engage in salary negotiations. In the spring when negotiations initially weren’t going well, we voted to begin “work to rule”. We began working from 7:30-2:35 each day, teachers stopped giving up their prep time to work with students, and teachers stopped volunteering for extra things that have become standard in our lives. We started this school year following “work to rule”, but we failed in our efforts. Why did we fail? Because our faculty rock and they don’t want to do a crappy job. There is no way for teachers, counselors and other faculty in our school to do their job if they only work from 7:35-2:35.
The amazing school that we have created draws hundreds of school choice students from 20 neighboring towns, bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Our MCAS performance jumped 7 points this year (we now outperform 79.9% of the schools state-wide). Our students graduate with college and career opportunities that they value. So why do our wages continue to fall behind if our students are leaping ahead?
We would love if community members could help the School Committee realize that their salary offers are not supported by the communities that fund our salaries. Here are some ways you can show your support:
- Show up at the School Committee meeting next Monday, October 2nd at 6:00 and let the school committee know how you feel.
- Email your thoughts to any or all of the HRHS School Committee members .
- Every Friday the HREA (our union) is rallying out front of the school from 7:00AM to 7:25AM. Come join us! We can give you a sign to hold or feel free to make your own.
- Feel free to forward this email to any other families who would be interested in hearing this update.
Thank you for your continued support! Please reach out if you have any questions!
Thank you,
Greg Reynolds, Co-President Hampshire Regional Education Association
Rally with us!
Meet us outside of the high school at 7am every Friday. Wear RED. Let’s make our voices heard!
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