November 29, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
The big item of the night on Monday’s School Committee agenda was an update on salary and negotiations.
During the meeting, Chair Nes Correnti also answered questions that were asked during the Nov. 13 committee meeting related to that issue as promised at that time.
“First, I want to recognize this is really hard — for the staff, students, parents, administrators, and school committee members,” she said. “I always like to ask people to remember we have nothing but good intentions when doing the work we do. Personally, I did not run for School Committee to make life miserable for teachers and staff. I have the utmost respect for what they do.”
Correnti went on to say, “I think to understand where we are, we have to remember what happened during the last negotiations. We were just entering into the last contract as COVID was rearing its ugly head. Due to the unpredictability of the situation, the negotiating team for both sides finalized that contract pretty quickly. The worry was that we were headed for another recession, similar to the 2008 Great Recession.”
Reflecting back on paraeducator pay in particular, Correnti said the School Committee is aware that “the HPS pay is low comparatively. I was hoping we would be able to negotiate the Unit B contract quickly so that we could raise the pay as soon as possible. I am heartened that pay will be retroactive once this contract is finalized. However, I hope that we can get it settled soon.”
Correnti referred to the $7.8 million operational override that passed last Spring.
It was the 5th largest override to pass in Massachusetts history and the 7th largest of all those attempted. “I was extremely proud we were able to get that passed in order to support the needs of our town,” she said.
Correnti acknowledged that HPS paraeducators’ pay is low and requires an equity adjustment, which she said was included in the FY24 budget, along with cost of living raises.
Correnti went on to explain that the definition of a living wage comes from an MIT living wage calculator for Plymouth County, which is calculated to be $45,860 based on 2,080 hours per year.
“That works out to $22 an hour. Our paras work approximately 53% of the full-time [hours],” she said. “We are using the $22 per hour as a guideline on livable wage.”
At the end of the day, Correnti said, “We are trying to get to fair pay for each Unit. We hope to get to a position where we can keep current staffing levels, as that is what we fought so hard for.”
In response to questions asked at the Nov. 13 School Committee meeting, Correnti explained why the SC is choosing to use the HPS listserv and website to inform the public about negotiations.
“We use the HPS listserv to inform the public when there are issues or concerns that impact students,” she said. “For example, we have used it to inform the public about a number of issues impacting our schools and students, including the status of negotiations with the Hingham Education Association regarding the reopening of schools and the transition from hybrid to a return to a regular school schedule. This is how we communicate with families.”
Another question related to why the SC emails are coming from Correnti instead of a member of the negotiating team.
According to SC policy, the chair is the public spokesperson for the committee. All members of the committee, including the chair, are regularly briefed on the status of negotiations.
Another question related to whether the SC runs emails by the HEA for input before sending them out to the community.
“When discussing ground rules for negotiations, the SC proposed that the committee and the HEA periodically issue joint statements to update the community about the status of negotiations, and the HEA declined,” Correnti said.
“Can the HEA have access to the district listserv to communicate its perspective with the public?” was also asked.
“At the beginning of the school year, families were informed that their contact information would be shared with specific organizations (ex: the PTOs) and are given the option to opt out. Sharing family contact information with other groups would interfere with student and family privacy,” Correnti explained.
Wellness Center update
In other business at the meeting, the committee approved the name of the proposed new wellness and fitness center at Hingham High School as The DOCK as well as proposed donor recognition signage for the building.
In a followup after the meeting, Correnti told the Hingham Anchor she’s “really excited” about the project and “so happy we were able to vote on a name provisionally.”
The policy subcommittee first needs to update the School Committee’s policy to reflect the new naming bylaw that was passed at Town Meeting and updated by the Select Board earlier this month.
The subcommittee discussed the policy on Tuesday, with a possible read and vote at the next School Committee meeting.
Go to https://www.hinghamanchor.com/school-committee-approves-naming-for-the-dock-at-hingham-high-school-and-proposed-donor-recognition-signage-to-honor-generous-family/ for full details about the proposed Wellness Center and donor recognition.