'Productive Night': Salem Teachers Agree On Class Sizes, Tuition Fees

SALEM, MA — The Salem Teachers Union described the latest round of negotiations toward a new collective bargaining agreement as "very productive" as it said the School Committee agreed and the union agreed to proposals pertaining to class sizes, tuition reimbursement and coach stipends.

The School Committee said on Wednesday morning that plans were in place for sub-committee groups to meet later in the day to "reach final agreement on remaining non-financial sections of the contract" as compensation increases, parental leave and class prep time stand out as the biggest stumbling blocks toward a deal ahead of the new school year.

The union said tentative agreements included those on special education class sizes, career and technical class sizes, the district paying for continuing education tuition fees, the coach stipends and a uniform start to the school year after Labor Day.

Union representatives said the sides remain apart on parental leave — with the union asking for seven of the 12 weeks paid, and the School Committee holding at six weeks — as well as compensation increases and class prep time.

"Everyone agrees that Salem educators should be paid better and that paraprofessionals, in particular, need a raise," said STU secretary Keeghan Hughes. "We are looking at a small gap between management's proposal and our compensation proposal, which would make Salem much more competitive for all educators and would be life-changing for our hard-working paraprofessionals.

"Other nearby districts pay their educators far better than we do."

Hughes said one other issue is personal time where the district is seeking for teachers to request days off and determined that those requests could be denied if more than 10 percent of school staff has already been granted that particular time.

Hughes said a gap also remains in class prep time with the union seeking twice the amount of time the School Committee is proposing.

The next full bargaining session is scheduled for Aug. 29.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)