The School Committee and Belmont teachers union—the Belmont Education Association—have reached 70 tentative agreements so far, with salary and classroom time among the top issues still being negotiated.
The School Committee’s top priorities include adding time to the instructional day and maintaining current staffing levels, according to School Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty.
“The new curriculums that we’ve been bringing in require more instructional time, and in general, we have less instructional time than any of our comparable districts, so we are trying to get some of that back,” she said.
The School Committee and the BEA are both committed to adding 15 minutes of instructional time to the school day, according to a letter to the community from Moriarty.
The union’s top priorities include establishing manageable caseloads, increasing time for educators to prepare and collaborate, and obtaining fair compensation, according to BEA member and English Language Education Director Lindsey Rinder.
“Particularly for our educators in the K-3 buildings, they only have 30 minutes a day for preparation,” Rinder said. “Because of how short that time is, it doesn’t overlap in a way that gives them access to collaborate with special educators, with English language education educators, with their grade level professionals, [and with] the unit D staff.”
Professional aides also don’t have time for collaboration built into their workday, according to BEA president John Sullivan.
“So our educators working with the most vulnerable students, [who] are with the students every single period of the day, have no time to collaborate or get instruction about what they’re supposed to be doing with the kids during the day,” he said.
Staffing and Salary Considerations
Large class sizes and caseloads can also be difficult for educators to manage, and can even pose safety concerns, Sullivan said.
Rinder said this challenge has been especially pronounced since there has been an uptick in student needs following the start of the pandemic; many students experienced developmental delays or additional learning challenges due to not being in the classroom and not receiving necessary early interventions during the pandemic.
BEA member Patricia Ball, who works as an administrative assistant for the special education department, said the number of students on IEPs and those receiving out-of-district services has more than doubled since she began her position nine years ago. The number of administrative assistants in her department, however, has remained the same.
“The number of students has grown exponentially—and the complexity,” she said. “We just have not had an opportunity to recover.”
“The concern going forward is that it’s getting harder and harder to do these things,” said BEA member and teacher Clifford Gallant.
Professional aides also play a significant role in monitoring classroom safety and supporting students with special needs, according to Rinder.
“If we were able to provide a more livable wage, then we would really increase the pool from which we could draw,” she added. “I’m a hiring manager—the pool that I can hire from is so much smaller than it used to be.”
The challenge is that the compensation packages proposed by the BEA and increasing staffing would surpass the school budget or require additional cuts, according to Moriarty.
“If we go above our budget, then that puts our staffing levels at risk,” she said. “If we reduce staff, class sizes grow; workload grows.”
Looking Ahead
Last week, the School Committee met with the Select Board to discuss whether additional town resources could be used to supplement the school budget.
“While they reiterated there are no recurring funds available beyond the [fiscal year] 2026 budget, they expressed support for allocating limited one-time funds from certified free cash, pending completion of that process and town meeting approval,” Moriarty wrote in her letter.
Free cash refers to the remaining funds from the town’s operations for the previous fiscal year.
Of the 70 tentative agreements reached by the School Committee and the teachers’ union, one of the most recent agreements from the bargaining session last week establishes parental leave for educators.
According to Moriarty’s letter, the current contract does not include any parental leave.
The new tentative agreement states that 12 weeks, up to 60 work days, can be taken for parental leave.
The BEA and School Committee will continue to meet, with their next bargaining session scheduled for Nov. 12.
