Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/7/2023
AMHERST – Beginning Feb. 27, members of the Amherst-Pelham Education Association (APEA) will begin what is known as “working to rule,” whereby they will perform only their strict contractual obligations, withdrawing from all voluntary duties. This is done as an act of protest in their attempt to negotiate a new contract with the Amherst Regional Public Schools (ARPS) Committee. The APEA claims that the committee has continuously refused to meet to negotiate, prompting the work to rule decision.
According to a Feb. 17 press release from the APEA, Amherst educators have proposed a 3.25 percent cost of living increase for teachers’ and clerical staff salaries in the first year of the contract, followed by a 4 and 5 percent increase the following two years, respectively. These increases are known as cost-of-living adjustments, or COLA. The committee has offered COLA of 2.5 percent, 2.5 percent and 2 percent, respectively. However, not only does the APEA deem these COLA insufficient given the current high cost of living in the area, it states that the committee’s offer also adds two extra unpaid days to the school year; this dilutes the value of the offer to 1.5 percent, 1.5 percent and 1 percent respectively.
Claire Cocco, communications chair for the APEA, said that working to rule will not affect the quality of education students receive, but will differ based on the school in question.
“Students will not experience much change on a day to day basis. Educators will continue to provide the high quality care and education that our community is used to. The job actions will be differ by school. Educators will stop performing select voluntary activities. For example, in some cases this may mean educators will not be staying late to volunteer after school, in others they may not be responding to emails outside of the contracted hours,” Cocco said.
The press release describes the APEA’s support of the decision of working to rule as “overwhelming.” Cocco echoed this sentiment.
“APEA educators are committed to providing the highest educational opportunities to all our students, but the School Committee needs to prioritize settling fair contacts. They’ve created this crisis by walking away from negotiations. It’s been nearly eight months. We had a democratic decision-making process. Each building took a vote of all employees, members and non-members. 90 percent in each building voted. We had 95 percent of voters affirm the work to rule decision,” Cocco said.
Many Amherst educators have complained regarding insufficient compensation relative to their expenses; for some, like the district’s paraeducators, the APEA’s proposed COLA would simply provide a living wage, according to the press release.
In addition to the COLA offer, the committee has also proposed a policy which would allow employee termination with impunity.
“They are not open about their proposal to eliminate “Reduction in Force” protection so that educator jobs or hours can be cut with no advance notice at all,” Cocco said.
At a recent Amherst Public School Committee meeting, district Superintendent Michael Morris spoke of an “impending fiscal cliff” facing the town which will result in budget cuts for the school district. Cocco feels that the committee is not being entirely honest, as this contradicts with an earlier statement made to the Town Council.
“You may want to dig into some past presentations between SC [the School Committee] and Town Council: as recently as their December 22 State of the Schools presentation to the Town Council they were claiming ‘after 3 years of flat funding requiring cuts to programs and services, this year’s budget maintains services.’ Yet, two months later, we are facing a ‘fiscal cliff?,’” Cocco said.
Community support has poured in for the APEA’s cause, but Cocco said that more is still needed. She implored the people of Amherst to reach out to the powers that be in support of the cause.
“Over 1,000 community members have already signed a petition directed to School Committee to get us back to direct negotiations and out of mediation. We also need community members to come out (or call/email) to School Committee…to let them know we need to resolve this, we need to retain jobs, and we need to raise COLA to a bit more livable level. If our community really values education (and we think it does) then the school committee and the town can find a way. We also need community members to contact their town and School Committee officials to let them know we need to resolve this, we need to retain jobs, and we need to raise COLA to a bit more livable level,” Cocco said.
She said that the most beneficial thing for the entire community would be to resolve this matter quickly in the name of education and the students’ wellbeing.
“It is past time for the School Committee to do their part and return to the bargaining table in person and put an end to this crisis in our public schools. The best thing we can do to protect the quality of our schools is to settle this dispute quickly and in a way that will allow us to continue to attract and retain the quality educators our community is demanding and that our students need to succeed,” Cocco said.
In a statement to Reminder Publishing, School Committee Chair Ben Herrington said the district will “continue to work towards finding an amicable and fiscally responsible solution with the APEA through mediation.”
Herrington added, “The decision to move to work to rule does not change the commitment to educational excellence by the APEA or the School Committee. None of this is easy, but it is worth getting right for our students, families and educational communities.”
Correspondent G. Michael Dobbs contributed to this report.