The Oct. 25 issue of The Belmont Voice reported on the School Committee’s budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2027. Providing adequate funds for school department employees was not one of them.
After providing a quality education for our students, isn’t it logical for the committee to then prioritize setting aside the necessary funds to pay those who provide the quality education our students receive?
Certainly, the committee is getting its money’s worth. I have previously reminded them of the superior scores sophomores achieved on the MCAS exam. Our sophomores ranked fourth in the state in math, fifth in English and seventh in science and technology.
The negotiating tactic of stonewalling is a failure. Unfortunately, stonewalling was the tactic of choice used by the school committee in the last round of contract negotiations more than three years ago and they continue to use the same failed model.
Belmont doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Other comparable communities are paying higher salaries and we have to keep up with them.
Our dedicated educators have been working without a contract for almost a year and a half. I was embarrassed for our School Committee negotiators to read on their “collective bargaining public portal” that they had engaged in 25 bargaining sessions totaling more than 75 hours over the past year with the Belmont Educators Association, with no contract settlement reached.
Our educators, classroom aides, and clerical staff, the rank and file of the school department, need to be paid competitive salaries as do other town employees in the highway department, police department, and fire department.
Not negotiating by stonewalling demonstrates a lack of leadership, is a disservice to the citizenry, and is demoralizing to our educators.
Dick Madden, Pleasant Street