Proposer | Approver | Language Change | Rationale | Status |
|---|
Belmont Education Association (BEA) | Belmont School Committee (BSC) | [Extend agreement by three years] | Extends the contract through 2028 | Tentative Agreement (TA)! |
BEA | BSC | [Rename “teachers” to “bargaining unit members” throughout.] | Uses more inclusive language | TA! |
BEA | BSC | [Gender neutral references throughout.] | Uses more inclusive language | TA! |
BEA | BSC | [Clean up agreement during main table negotiations to move items to more appropriate locations in the contract.] | Better organizes the contract | TA! |
BEA | BSC | [Reorder and rename articles in order to align the sequence of all four BEA contracts.] | Better organizes the contract | TA! |
BEA | BSC | "The Sick Leave Bank referred to above is a consolidated bank consisting of contributions from both Unit A, and Unit B, Unit C, and Unit D members and is designed for the benefit of both Unit A, and Unit B, Unit C, and Unit D members." | Creates more efficiency | TA! |
BEA | BSC | "At the High School, four (4) release days will be provided. The first of these release days shall coincide with the first day of school, with the exception of grade 9. Reference: meeting schedule Calendar addendum see MOA Section 4 June 2011." | Aligns contract with current practice | TA! |
BSC | BEA | "Expenses for three in-district courses highly recommended by the district, EMI IDEAS (or equivalent), Understanding Teaching Studying Skillful Teaching I (or equivalent), and Understanding Teaching II (or equivalent), will be covered by the School Department. These expenses include the cost of the program, books, and graduate credit costs for all participants. Admission to such courses will be on a space available basis. Every effort will be made to schedule course availability in a manner that will meet the demand. Should the district elect to change the courses that are highly recommended from those mentioned above, they will continue to cover said costs." | Corrects outdated language | TA! |
BSC | BEA | "(a) On the basis of a seven-period day, High School teachers working in the major academic areas will be assigned no more than thirty (30) periods per week, of which not more than twenty-five (25) shall be teaching periods. In cases of unfilled vacancies where educators may volunteer to teach additional sections of a course in lieu of a personal preparation period or a lunch such that they would exceed the above limits, a salary adjustment equaling 20% of their salary for each additional 0.2 FTE will be applied. Such additional assignments may be for one school year in duration only, during which the Building Principal will endeavor to hire a permanent replacement. While educators may volunteer, the Superintendent or designee has the final decision on whether to accept the educator. No educator may be required to accept such an assignment. The unfilled vacancy shall remain posted until filled by a permanent educator. Prior to assigning an educator to teach an additional section the parties shall meet to review building staffing at a building-based JLMC. An educator who is assigned to an additional section shall be paid retroactively from the period when they begin preparation for the course." | Provides educators the option to voluntarily increase course load | TA! |
BSC | BEA | "Recognizing that the number of meetings vary from year to year based on the calendar, number of meeting days in a given year, meetings will include: Meeting Type | Elementary | Middle | High | Building Meetings | 15 | 13 | 14 | Department Meetings | 0 | 7 | 9 | Curriculum Meeting | 7 | 3 | 3 | Common Planning Time (Educators) | 4 | 4 | 4 | Teacher generated agenda | 3 | 3 | 3 | Early Release for Parent Conferences | 6 7
| 6 | 2 | Half Day for PD | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Adds parent-teacher conference day at the elementary level | TA! |
BSC | BEA | "The parties shall form a working group to study and create a new approach to meeting schedules including, but not limited to: Teacher-generated Agenda meetings, Faculty & Staff/Building Meetings, Grade-level Meetings, Curriculum Meetings, Common Planning Time (Educator) Meetings, Department Meetings, PLT/Professional Development meetings, Early release days, and Parent/Guardian-Teacher days (if applicable; see separately proposed ‘Parent/Guardian-Teacher Conferences Group’). The group shall have equal parts representation from the BEA and School Administration: At least 1 BEA member from the elementary level, 1 BEA member from Chenery, 1 BEA member from BMS, 1 BEA member from BHS, 1 Administrator (or designee) from the elementary level, 1 Administrator (or designee) from Chenery, 1 Administrator from BMS, and 1 Administrator (or designee) from BHS. This group’s charge will be to recommend a model for meetings. The new model must be approved by the Superintendent and the Belmont Education Association before being implemented as a pilot for the 2025-2026 school year. This proposed group shall reassemble by January, 2026 to review the pilot and make any additional recommendations. The final model must be approved by the Superintendent and the Belmont Education Association no later than May 30, 2026 for implementation in subsequent years. No extra-compensatory payment will be made to group members for this work." | Forms a joint committee to develop a new approach to meeting schedules | TA! |
BEA | BSC | "For purposes of this Article 'disciplines' shall be as follows: (1) Elementary Grades PreK-6 K-4 and Grades 5 and 6 in Middle School; (2) English; (3) Foreign World Languages within the certification; (4) Mathematics; (5) Science within the certification; (6) Social Studies; (7) English Language Learners; (8) Nurses; (9) Technology/Engineering ; (10) Art; (11) Music; (12) Physical Education; (13) Guidance; (14) Psychologist; (15) Reading; (16) Special Education; (17) Speech & Language Pathologist; (18) Library/Media Specialist; (19) Health Education; (20) Theater Arts ; (21) ) School Social Worker." | Corrects DESE licensure/certification levels in cases of reduction in force (RIF) | TA! |
BSC | BEA | "ARTICLE THIRTEEN -- PAID HOLIDAYS" | Changes the title of Unit D contractual article | TA! |
BSC | BEA | "The district shall create a new Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI_ Hiring and Retention Team, led by the Director of DEIW [Wellness], or Superintendent's designee, who shall chair the Team and has the final authority on recommendations to the Superintendent of any matter addressed by the team." | Changes the title of this position in Unit D contract. | TA! |
BEA | BSC | "7.8 Upon retirement, members of the unit may elect to contribute one (1) up to ten (10) of their unused days to the Bank." | Increases the number of unused sick days that retiring members may contribute to the Sick Bank for their colleagues to use | TA! |
BEA | BSC | "7.9 The Sick Leave Bank referred to above is a consolidated bank consisting of contributions from both Unit A, and Unit B, Unit C, ad Unit D members and is designed for the benefit of both Unit A, and Unit B, Unit C, ad Unit D members." | Combines all sick banks into a single sick bank for sake of efficiency | TA! |
BEA | BSC | "8.5 Given that teachers at the middle school high school write private school and college recommendations, teachers that write fifteen (15) or more recommendations are entitled to a professional day per year to write said recommendations with the prior scheduling approval of the building principal." | Extends this benefit from BHS educators to BMS educators | TA! |
BEA | BSC | "ARTICLE NINE - LEAVES 9.1 Parental/Adoption Leave (see Appendix E: BPS Parental Leave Policy) (a) Notice of Pregnancy. The teacher shall notify the Superintendent in writing near the beginning of the seventh month of her pregnancy of her pending leave. Such notice will contain the approximate date on which the teacher intends to commence extended leave under this Article.
Parental leaves of absence will be provided to educators to the extent required by, and subject to the provision of, applicable laws, including the Massachusetts Parental Leave Act General Laws Chapter 149, Section 105D ('MPLA'), and the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29USC2601 et seq. ('FMLA'). Whenever possible, such leave under the MPLA and FMLA and any leaves taken under the terms of Section 9.1 this Agreement shall run concurrently." | Removes outdated/inapplicable language and aligns contract with current applicable laws. | TA! |
BEA | BSC | "ARTICLE THIRTY-THREE TEACHER PROTECTION AND INDEMNIFICATION... [Add new Section 12 as follows] To the extent reasonably practicable, educators shall have access to secure designated space in each of the school buildings to which they are assigned to store personal items such as purses or bags." | Provides assurance of secure storage to all educators | TA! |
