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 throughout the summer on our social media accounts (Facebook: BelmontPublicSchools, and X: @belmontschools).

We encourage you to visit these resources often for the latest updates.

August 29, 2025

Dear Belmont Public Schools Community,

On Wednesday, August 27, 2025, we held our 22nd bargaining session with the Belmont Education Association (BEA) as part of negotiations for the 2025-2028 contracts. Since last fall, we’ve spent more than 60 hours at the table, including four three-hour sessions this summer.

This week’s session was with Unit B (Assistant Principals, Curriculum Directors, Evaluation Team Leaders, and Program Administrators). It was a constructive conversation, and I appreciated their commitment to reaching agreements soon. As both a School Committee member and a parent, I share that commitment. These leaders are essential to how our schools run: supporting principals, guiding educators, and working with families so that our students can stay focused on learning.

Across all units of the BEA, we’ve now reached more than 65 tentative agreements on issues like  use of sick days, mileage reimbursement, salary payment schedules, professional development days, and paid holidays. We are also collaboratively working towards paid parental leave days, something we have never offered. That is meaningful progress, though we know there are different views about how much has been achieved. From our perspective, these agreements represent important movement, even as we remain far apart on compensation.

On compensation, the BEA’s top priority, we are still looking for common ground. The School Committee has put forward four separate salary proposals, all designed to stay within the Town’s budget guidelines. We believe these are strong proposals that:

• Keep our most experienced educators among the highest paid in comparable districts.

• Make salaries for newer educators more competitive.

• Smooth the scale to ensure more equitable year-to-year increases.

• Achieve savings in year three that can be used to hire additional staff, helping address larger class sizes and caseloads.

• Include compensation tied to additional learning time for students, something our community urgently needs and our students deserve.

The BEA has kept its original proposals, some of which would mean raises of 12–37% in a single year. Changes at that level simply aren’t possible without cutting staff or student programs, something none of us wants.

The BEA has kept its original proposals, some of which would mean raises of 12–37% in a single year.

Changes at that level simply aren’t possible without cutting staff or student programs, something none of us wants.

Part of the gap comes from different assumptions about the budget:

• Chapter 70 state aid: Every year Belmont gets Chapter 70 state aid funds. This year, Belmont is receiving more aid than budgeted. These funds will be allocated by Town Meeting in October. Currently, they are earmarked for one-time uses that directly benefit students, including much needed literacy curriculum.

• One-time funds: Using non-recurring funds, such as staff exchange funds, for a multi-year contract isn’t sustainable. In the past, this has led to cuts and program reductions in later years, a cycle we cannot repeat.

• Health insurance: The BEA has suggested switching to the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) would save millions. Throughout these negotiations no GIC proposal has been made by the BEA, and the ultimate decision rests with the Select Board. An actuarial assessment completed by the Select Board projected no savings and possible added costs for the Town and employees. The Select Board has confirmed it will not pursue this change right now.

Sorting out these assumptions will be key if we’re going to make progress.

Even though we haven’t met our shared goal of finishing before the school year begins, each session still matters. Every Tentative Agreement brings us a step closer. I want you to know that we remain committed to good-faith negotiations and keeping the community informed.

Meg Moriarty, Ed.D., BSC Chair