The Andover Education Association and the Andover School Committee reached an agreement Tuesday afternoon, ending a five-day walkout by more than 850 teachers and instructional assistants.
The agreement still needs to be ratified by the union’s full membership. In a Facebook post announcing the pact, AEA said schools would reopen Wednesday after three school days were canceled for the strike.
The contract gives a 15.5 percent raises to teachers and 34 percent for instructional assistants over four years. For elementary school students, the deal includes extra recess time that teachers will use for planning time.
The school committee, however, said it would need to consider cuts that include layoffs, as well as program and service reductions. Andover plans on 3.75 percent school budget increases each year. Without belt tightening or a budget increase, the district will be unable to offer the same level of staffing and services.
“We heard clearly from the teachers and many in the community that teacher and instructional assistant pay was the priority in this agreement and we responded accordingly,” School Committee Chair Tracey Spruce said. “At the same time, the final agreement is inconsistent with the principles of the town’s long-range financial plan so, to live within our means, we will need to make meaningful program, service, and staff reductions.”
Other terms of the agreement include:
- Eight weeks of fully paid parental leave and the option to use an additional four weeks of accrued sick time, bringing the total amount of fully paid parental leave to 12 weeks.
- The ability to use up to 60 days of accrued, paid sick leave when taking family medical leave to care for a seriously ill family member.
- Increases to elementary teacher planning time, which brings the added benefit of extended recess time for students.
2023 Andover Teachers Strike
Latest updates as of 6:40 p.m. Tuesday:
More Information:
Note to Readers:
Andover News will provide live updates on this post throughout the AEA strike. Check back for the latest updates throughout the weekend and until the strike ends.
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Previous Updates:
- Strike Legal Fees Mount For APS (Tuesday, 10:35 a.m.)
- Both Sides Optimistic Deal Is Near (Tuesday, 7 a.m.)
- Ex-School Committee Member Under Fire For Post On Strike
- Schools Closed Tuesday (Monday, 9:05 p.m.)
- Union: ‘We’re Getting Close’ (Monday, 8:30 p.m.)
- Striking Union Faces Fines Of $50K+ Per Day (Monday, 6 p.m.)
- AEA Rally on Facebook (Monday, 1:20 p.m.)
- AEA Press Conference on Facebook (Monday, 11:30 am)
- Where The Sides Stand As of Monday Morning
- Select Board, FinComm Enter Strike Talks (11:30 p.m. Sunday)
- Schools Closed Monday, Strike Goes On (Sunday, 9:30 p.m.)
- No Deal After 20-Hour Bargaining Session (3:10 p.m. Sunday)
- All coverage
Strike Legal Fees Mount For APS (Tuesday, 10:35 a.m.)
The Andover School Committee has paid $137,154 to a Boston-based public relations firm and a law practice specializing in employment law in recent months as it has negotiated a new contract with the union which represents more than 850 teachers and instructional assistants.
The payments included $14,000 on Sept. 28 and another $7,000 on Nov. 9 to Melwood Global and $126,154 to Valerio Dominello & Hillman LLC since the start of the fiscal year on July 1, according to the Town’s open finance Website. Andover Public Schools also made payments totaling $340,064 to the Westwood-based law firm in the fiscal year ended June 30.
The finance data does not make clear whether all of the spending is related to the negotiations with the Andover Education Association, which began in January.
Both Sides Optimistic Deal Is Near (Tuesday, 7 a.m.)
Andover Public Schools could reopen as soon as Wednesday, with both sides saying they are closing a gap in negotiating a contract to end the teachers strike that started Thursday night.
“The current offers on the table from the School Committee and AEA are closer than when the day began, the school committee said in a statement after bargaining broke for the night around 11:30 p.m. Monday. “The School Committee regrets that school had to be canceled again Tuesday due to the strike and hopes that students are back in the classroom Wednesday.”
Representatives for the Andover Education Association had expressed similar sentiments during a break earlier Monday evening.
Tuesday is the third straight day schools have been closed for the strike. The district will once again offer box breakfasts and lunches, which can be picked up at Bancroft Elementary School between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The Town is offering additional services Tuesday to help parents manage kids who are home from school, including Recreation Department activities from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Old Town Hall Tuesday (more info).
Absolutely unconscionable that our School Committee is spending money at a Public Relations firm and for a full-time PR staffer while claiming their budget can’t afford living wages for Instructional Assistants, folks IN the classrooms working with students. Beyond unbelievable.
Started when the School Committee blessed former Superintendent Shelly Berman adding to his personal staff a “School Department PR Spokesperson” when Berman came under fire in the press and by parents as scandals rocked our School Department and seemed to be breaking out almost daily while he was Superintendent (AHS Hockey Team and sex survey scandals at the high school, anyone?) and decided to hire a PR person so he could hide behind that person when the press came calling.
Now we get spin from hired spin meisters instead of from the Superintendent or members of the School Committee themselves when the buck should stop with them, not with some PR shill, on major school system issues. Pathetic that the School Committee the past ten years has blessed increasing non-teaching administrative staff and paying public relations shills while the Andover school population has decreased by over 700 students over the past ten years!
It is truly incredible that out of one side of our School Committee’s mouth they say that the terms of the contract that they just signed off on with our teachers is financially unsustainable without all kinds of budget cuts while out of the other side of their mouths they are trying to push on the town a one BILLION dollar all-in cost of a totally new high school building (a half billion dollars in cost plus a half billion dollars in interest on the amount that would have to be bonded) while MUCH less costly alternatives exist to address genuine high school’s facility needs by practical building upgrades and enhancements.
The hypocrisy and arrogance of our School Committee is stunning. On the one hand, they call paying instructional assistants a living wage financially unsustainable while they are simultaneously pushing an unjustified building scheme that will cause property taxes to skyrocket by, on average, upwards of $3000 per year, totally ignoring in their “let them eat cake attitude” that their “gotta have a new building” scheme will keep young families from being able to afford to buy homes in Andover and will force seniors living on fixed incomes to have to move out of their homes because Andover’s property taxes under the School Committee’s building scheme would make living in Andover totally unaffordable for young families and for town seniors. Marie Antoinette would be proud of the attitude of the Andover School Committee.