To the editor:      

      Voting day is March 14 in the Amherst School District and, as this board has discussed numerous times over the past few months, there are several items critical to the immediate and long-term mission of the schools. You can find a summary of those items and links to an abundance of resources in this piece. Please review them and email asb@sau39.org if you have questions before you cast your vote.

      In the meantime, members of the Amherst School Board negotiating team wanted to use this space to highlight  the merits of article 14, the 3-year agreement with Amherst Education Association (AEA).

      When the four year agreement presented on the March 2022 ballot failed, the Amherst School Board and AEA went back to work. Over the summer, the board worked with administration to construct a vision for a new agreement. The negotiating team was pleased that by working at length with AEA we were able to achieve our primary goals including: 

• More educational time for students. We increased the student calendar to 176 days beginning in year 2 and beyond. This agreement also removes six late start days over the three year time frame. This means that we will go from 165 full days of learning currently to 172 full days by the end of the agreement.

• Smoothing the salary scale. The current salary scale featured somewhat arbitrary step increases between 2 and 5 percent. The new schedule smooths the majority of steps to 3% with a few at the end of each track coming in at 3.2%. We also extended the scale from 18 to 20 steps.

• Eliminating the jump step. The new contract replaces a ‘jump step’ that provided 10-13% raises in a single year. The board viewed this arbitrary jump step as unsustainable, and it created salary disparities. For example, teachers with a bachelor’s degree were making more than teachers with a master degree on the same salary scale step.

• New starting salaries. We are raising the minimum entry point for new teachers to $45,000 from just under $42,000. This will help recruit the best new teachers to our district when our current teachers retire or move out of the district.

• Increased teacher development time. Prior to the school year, new teachers will spend three additional days in our district, becoming familiar with our curriculum, responsive classroom, and other initiatives. All teachers have a new professional development day in the summer in year two and year three. These two additional PD days replace the late-start days during the year.

What happens if this contract doesn’t pass?

If the contract fails:

• Teachers remain on FY22 salaries for a third straight year, meaning they receive no raises for two straight years in the most inflationary time in 40 years.

• We lose extra time in the classroom for all students. This includes the full student day in year two and the ability to eliminate six late starts in the final two years.