Contract Negotiations Update

The Hingham School Committee strongly desires to reach agreement with our collective bargaining units as soon as possible. To that end, the committee has offered to meet over the Summer, as well as on Fridays and Saturdays. Because contract negotiations can be complicated, they are not always completed by the end of the prior contract. As in prior contract negotiation cycles when the work was ongoing, our schools will continue to operate as usual, under the terms of existing contracts, while the parties continue to negotiate. Once new agreements are reached, teachers, paraprofessionals, and members of the other bargaining units will be paid retroactively under the terms of the new contracts.

To reflect the value the town of Hingham places on education, Hingham teacher salaries are at the high end (see pg 21-22) of teacher salaries in Massachusetts and among our benchmark towns, even when factoring in the cost of benefits.

The purpose of the FY24 budget override was to secure funding to make permanent the 32 positions that were added to offset the pandemic related learning loss for our students, and to prevent teacher and staff layoffs. Throughout the budget process, the School Committee was clear on the proposed salary increases included in the override budget, which was approved by Town Meeting. Reducing or defunding other line items to meet the union’s demands would require staff layoffs, which would ultimately harm students.

Negotiation sessions take place during executive session meetings of the school committee. Under Massachusetts State Law, discussions during executive sessions are confidential for school committee members, until an agreement is reached or until the committee votes as a body to release a statement. Historically, this has allowed for more open discussions during the bargaining sessions, however the committee also understands that the community is interested in the progress of negotiations. Consequently, the committee will update the public as frequently as possible during our full school committee meetings. Recordings of past meetings are available on Harbor Media’s Youtube Page. Please see the town Agenda Center for upcoming school committee meetings which are accessible in person and on Zoom.

Paraprofessionals (HEA Unit B):

“Living wage” and “poverty wages” is language used by the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), one of the statewide teachers unions, to which the Hingham educators belongs. During this current school year alone, these terms have been used as a negotiating strategy by at least 36 other teacher’s unions in districts across the state during collective bargaining with their districts. This language comes from a living wage calculator created by a professor at MIT, which estimates what a “living wage” is in counties across the country, based on multiple factors. 

The calculator is based on a 40 hour/week, 52 weeks per year work schedule (or 2,080 hours). Comparatively, our paraprofessionals work approximately 52% of what is considered full-time working 181 days out of the year (1,086 and 1,177 hours). Unlike teachers, who have responsibilities outside of the school days, paras do not. In addition, paraprofessionals have 10 paid holidays and two personal days.

No. Under the current contract, paraeducators who work five hours or more are entitled to paid breaks (30 minutes at the elementary level and 24 minutes at the secondary level). 

While paraeducators may be asked to cover a class for a short period, anyone who is asked to sub for a full day is compensated.

Yes. Paraprofessionals receive 10 paid holidays per school year. They also receive two paid personal days.

During the 2020-2021 school year, the last year reported by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the average teacher salary in Hingham was $99,261.

Health insurance rates for all Hingham employees are the same. These benefits are negotiated with the Town of Hingham and not with the Hingham School Committee.

In FY21 and FY22, the schools utilized fewer paraeducator hours than budgeted, allowing the school department to allocate those funds to support other budget line items, including substitute pay and other immediate needs directly benefiting students.