This portal has been created to keep the Belmont community updated about the Belmont School Committee's (BSC) ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with the Belmont Education Association (BEA) for a 2025-2028 successor contract. We will continue to provide updates on this site regularly, as well as via posts on our social media accounts (Facebook: BelmontPublicSchools, and X: @belmontschools). We encourage you to visit these resources often for the latest updates.

December 16, 2025

Dear Belmont Public Schools Community,

The Belmont School Committee continues to work toward fair and sustainable contracts with the Belmont Education Association (BEA), guided by a shared commitment to students and respect for the educators who serve them.

At our most recent bargaining sessions, we made forward progress with Unit B (Assistant Principals, Directors, and Coordinators) and hope an agreement can be reached soon. The BEA rejected our salary proposals for Units A (Educators), C (Administrative Assistants, Clerical Aides), and D (Paraprofessionals, Classroom Aides, Campus Monitors, Building Substitutes); including additional payments for FY26 that rely on limited one-time certified free cash. Instead, they presented counterproposals that exceed what we have budgeted.

To help families understand the scale of the differences:

• The BEA’s most recent proposals for Units A, C, and D are approximately $600,000 above what is available in the FY26 school budget (excluding one-time payments from certified free cash), and
  

• About $2.6 million higher than our proposals over the three years of the contract.

There are also differences in proposals related to time, which involves both compensation and the length of the workday for Unit D. Importantly, both parties agree that any additional time for Unit D would be fully paid and allocated to a combination of student-facing instructional time and collaboration and preparation time. Where the proposals differ is in how much time is added and how quickly:

• The BEA proposes adding 45 minutes per day beginning in FY26, and
  

• We would phase in an additional 30 minutes per day over the 3 years of the contract.

Because all added time is paid, there is a meaningfully higher cost to adding 45 minutes at once in year 1 of the contract versus phasing in 30 minutes over time. Our phased approach allows us to plan and budget responsibly for these increases without reducing staffing levels or cutting student programs in other parts of the budget.

One of our goals has been to increase instructional time for students. As negotiations extend later than anticipated, it is becoming increasingly difficult to implement changes during the current school year, as any adjustment to the school day requires advance planning, coordination with transportation providers, and clear communication with families. The sooner contracts are settled, the sooner the district can focus on improvements that benefit students and provide increased compensation for Unit D employees. Until then, we remain committed to negotiating in good faith and keeping the community informed.

While several additional tentative agreements have been reached in recent weeks, important differences remain. Our next step is to report back to the Department of Labor Relations and return to the bargaining table on January 12, 2026.

Meg Moriarty, Ed.D., BSC Chair