December 13, 2023 By Carol Britton Meyer
Marybeth White, representing The Hingham Interventionists, referred last night to a petition signed by teachers in all four elementary schools supporting Hingham Public Schools interventionists’ request to join the Hingham Education Association Unit A union. “We’re the only group that isn’t a member, and we don’t have fair representation in our schools,” she said during the questions and answers part of Monday’s School Committee meeting.
The public comment period is not a time for debate or response to comments by the School Committee. SC practice does, however, provide time for questions and comments from the public on new business items on the agenda.
Following the meeting, School Committee Chair Nes Correnti told the Hingham Anchor in response to an email request for further details, “We started bargaining with Unit A in February, and both parties agreed to provide all proposals in the first three meetings,” she said. “Unit A could have proposed adding the interventionists then, but they didn’t.”
Adding them now, when the bargaining process is so far along, “would require us to slow the process down considerably for the teachers, because we would [need to] discuss how each portion of the contract applies to a new group of employees,” according to Correnti.
An email to Correnti and School Committee member Kerry Ni dated Dec. 6, signed “The Hingham Interventionists” and sent by White, expressed concern at the SC “refusing to voluntarily recognize Hingham’s Interventionists as union members as part of the Hingham Education Association Unit A. We were disappointed by your response and wish to reiterate to you our value to the Hingham Public Schools and to our students. We are a key aspect of student success in Hingham, especially to those students who require specialized instruction. We ask you to please reconsider your decision.”
The email detailed the interventionists’ responsibilities: “We understand that our roles are different from many members of Unit A, but all Hingham Interventionists are educators who specialize and individualize instruction, who plan lessons, who evaluate student progress, who collaborate with teachers, and who are an integral part of the success of the MTSS [Multi-Tiered System of Support] program. We will also remind the Committee that Unit A is composed of staff with a variety of different roles and duties already.”
The email also stated that in recognition of concerns expressed by the School Committee, “we are willing to limit our proposals as part of contract bargaining. In exchange for voluntary recognition, we would limit all substantial proposals and merely engage in bargaining over any clarifications necessary in the contract between the roles/duties of teachers and interventionists.”
The email indicated that the interventionists would be attending Monday’s SC meeting and requested that an associated item be included on the agenda.
In an email to White dated Dec. 11, Correnti shared that the SC “greatly values the work you do. We recognize how important your role is to the students. We were thrilled when we were able to show that value to the Select Board and Advisory Committee back during the pandemic so that we could strengthen the MTSS model.”
That said, Correnti noted, “We have already discussed and voted to have you go through the process with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations. As a result, we will not be including it on our agenda for tonight’s meeting.”