School district employees have got a brand new deal

By Bob Dunn
Staff Writer

Published on June 22, 2007

The Amherst School Department reached an agreement with its contracted employees for the next school year.

Amherst-Pelham Superintendent Jere Hochman made the announcement Tuesday night.

According to Hochman, the negotiating team agreed on a one-year salary increase for the upcoming 2007-2008 school year. The union and the School Department will negotiate next year to try and establish a three-year agreement for the 2008-2009 school year and beyond.

The salary agreement affects all contracted employees and will provide them with a 1 percent salary increase next year.

Teachers who are eligible for a scheduled step increase in their base salary next year will receive that increase as well as the 1 percent, Hochman said.

Union President Tim Sheehan said that while negotiations are never without their challenges, both sides came to the table with "a level of mutual respect” that helped the process.

Hochman said that negotiations can be a "really invigorating process” and that the process illustrated the dedication of the entire staff.

<h4>Student contributions</h4>

Students at Amherst Regional High School may be asked to contribute to the activities budget beginning next school year.

The Regional School Committee discussed a proposal that would introduce an activities fee to the high school that would supplement the activities budget, which will be cut by 50 percent, or $20,000, according to Hochman.

According to the proposal, that cut in funding would mean the possible reduction of clubs and organizations at the school by nearly half, from 48 down to 25.

Reducing the number of clubs would mean establishing criteria that would be considered for a club to continue, including: number of registered members, number of those members that attend regularly and judging the relative importance of maintaining "interest” clubs versus academically and culturally focused clubs, according to the proposal.

The fee, if implemented, would be voluntary and nonpayment of it would not restrict participation in activities, according to Hochman.

"We will not deny any kid participation in anything,” he said.

The proposal calls for a sliding scale for the voluntary fee of $20, $10 or nothing, based on ability and willingness to pay.

Collection of the fees would be "invisible,” Hochman said, in terms of who pays or what they're able to pay.

Part of the activities budget is used to pay "small” stipends to the faculty or staff advisor of a club.

Committee member Kathleen Anderson suggested eliminating the stipend as a cost-saving measure and having advisors mentor clubs on a strictly volunteer basis.

Anderson expressed concern that the fee would create a class issue and foster a division between those students who could pay and those who couldn't.

Hochman said that the stipends were a provision of the union contract and could not simply be eliminated without negotiating their removal from their contract.

The committee questioned whether the fee would be implemented only for those students who choose to participate in clubs and activities or whether it would be presented to the entire student body, similar to the way colleges and university charge activities fees.

Churchill reasoned that many students may feel that, since they contributed the fee, they may want to look more closely into joining a club to justify the added expense.

According to the proposal, as of June 2006, 75 percent of the student body was involved in some way with extra-curricular clubs, not including athletics.

The draft will be sent back to ARHS Principal Mark Jackson for clarification on which students will be asked to contribute and how the fees will be collected, and it will come before the committee for a vote at a future meeting.

Bob Dunn covers Amherst area schools, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury. He can be reached at rdunn@gazettenet.com.