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Date: 11/6/2023
EASTHAMPTON — Employees of Chartwells, the school district’s contracted food service provider, will see a pay increase retroactive to the start of the current school year.
The School Committee unanimously approved the wage hike at its Oct. 24 meeting upon the recommendation of district Director of Business Services Nick Bernier. He said a pay increase would require a vote from the committee because of its impact on the district’s existing contract with Chartwells.
Bernier said some food service workers approached him back in September with concerns about their current wages.
“The bulk of [Chartwells] workers — the line workers, the cashiers, the assistant cooks — were just making minimum wage,” he said.
Bernier said head cooks at Mountain View School and the high school earn a bit more, at $17.50 an hour and $17 an hour, respectively.
The committee’s vote authorized a $1 an hour increase for cooks, a $1.75 an hour increase for assistant cooks at Mountain View, and a $1.25 an hour increase for line workers and cashiers. A part-time administrative assistant will see an increase of 75 cents an hour.
“I think these increases are long overdue,” Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said. “I’m thrilled that Nick is bringing this forward, and that Ken and the crew at Chartwells understand the situation and are taking care of [their] people.”
Bernier agreed.
“They’re working hard every day. I see what they do in the kitchen, serving meals and providing access to food for our kids so they can learn and have as a good of an experience at school as they can,” he said.
Bernier said the financial impact of the wage hikes — roughly $21,872 a year based on a full 180-day school year — would be manageable given the amount of reimbursements the district receives from the National School Lunch Program, a federally-assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools, and increased participation therein.
In August, Gov. Maura Healey signed a $56 billion state budget that included a number of new education policies, including one making school meals free for all students. Massachusetts has joined seven states, including Vermont and Maine, in passing laws to install this coronavirus pandemic-era program permanently, allowing students to eat at school for free regardless of their household income. According to anti-hunger organization Project Bread, nearly a quarter of the 121,560 Massachusetts children who faced food insecurity prior to COVID-19 were ineligible for free or reduced-price school meals.
“It’s certainly something I support, and we can financially do it,” Bernier said of the pay increases. “It’s going to make it easier to hire people and also retain them.”
School Committee member Benjamin Hersey asked if the wage increases would make the district competitive with neighboring school districts.
“It will make us more competitive,” Bernier said. “I wouldn’t be surprised at the start of the next school year if there’s another proposed increase.”
Although there was no mention of retroactive increases in the proposal Bernier received from Chartwells, School Committee member Megan Harvey advocated for it, going back to the beginning of the current school year.
“I think these are very reasonable amounts,” School Committee Chair Cynthia Kwiecinski said. “I know it adds up, but they’re tiny amounts.”
School Committee member Marin Goldstein recommended that future discussions on the matter be addressed within the district’s annual budgeting process.