What’s included in the School Committee’s proposed contract for teacher benefits? Chief of Human Resources Beth Gage explains in this short video. (See video and graphics, below, for more details.)
The proposal would improve teacher benefits in three key areas:
Sick and personal leave
Catastrophic leave
Childbonding leave (FMLA)
“Before talking about the changes in benefits, I want to reiterate the main points of our proposal,” Ms. Gage said in the video. “The School Committee’s compensation proposal is highly competitive in the area, including an average (salary) increase of more than 20% over 3 years, while dramatically reducing work hours. Overall, we believe this is a fair and supportive benefits package for our teachers, while being mindful of the needs of our students and other staff members, as well as the district’s fiscal constraints.”
Sick and personal leave
In addition to the salary increases, the School Committee’s proposal to the Holyoke Teachers Association would increase paid time off by three days for all HTA members. Currently, HPS offers a total of 10 sick and personal days combined, which come from the same accrual bucket. The proposal breaks that time out into two individual buckets of time: 10 sick and three personal for a total of 13 days.
“This is three more paid days than Springfield, the largest public school employer in the area, offers their employees and one to two days less than many of the other surrounding districts,” Ms. Gage said. In addition to the added days, the proposal also frontloads all days on September 15 each year, and increases the maximum carryover from 120 to 150 days.
Catastrophic leave
In addition to the sick and personal leave increase, the catastrophic leave proposal has the district-funded sick bank where individuals can access up to 90 days of additional paid leave in cases of severe illness. The proposal includes the creation of a committee that includes two district representatives and two HTA-appointed representatives who will determine eligibility for catastrophic leave on a case-by-case basis.
Childbonding leave (FMLA)
For the first time ever, HPS has proposed five paid days, not deducted from sick or personal, for childbinding (FMLA). Only one comparison district offers any childbonding time at all. Beyond the five days, teachers can also use their accrued sick and personal time during their leave.
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