The Rockland School Committee unanimously ratified a three-year day care contract Wednesday, approving compensation terms the district said mirror comparable agreements and adopting scheduling adjustments to allow full staff professional development.

Dr. Kron, superintendent, told the committee the contract is the final agreement of a three-year negotiation and praised the day care’s work serving district employees. “This is the day care contract, but it is the final contract of the of the 3 year process,” Dr. Kron said. He added that “day care under the school umbrella is not typical in most towns, and it is a tremendous service,” and said the program “serves primarily Rockland teachers and and firefighters and police and town employees.”

Jane, a staff member who led contract specifics, said the compensation schedule is “comparable to the others, 2 and a half, 2 and a half, 2 and a half over a 3 year period with the adjustment for the parental leave.” Jane also described changes to professional-development scheduling intended to allow all day care and before/after-school staff to attend training: “it is scheduling, of, professional development so that there'll be a year that the, the day care is closed just before the beginning of school. So the full staff can participate in full profession, professional development.” She said the district had earlier experimented with closing the day care during school vacation weeks and holding training then, but families still needed care: “The last 2 years, we closed the day care during school vacation weeks, and then attempted to provide professional development during those times. Families a needed care during the vacation weeks, and we're able to better provide by having that 1 day.”

Committee members raised no substantive objections. A motion to ratify the contract was made and seconded; the committee chair counted five members in favor and declared the motion approved. The superintendent thanked negotiating staff members by name for the financial and logistical work required to finalize the agreement.

The committee did not cite any statutory authority or budget code during the discussion. The school leadership described the changes as operational scheduling and program-support decisions intended to professionalize day care staff and to reduce conflicts between staff training and families’ need for vacation-week care.

The vote completes the contract process the superintendent said began three years ago; committee members and staff characterized the outcome as a routine ratification rather than a policy change. The committee then moved on to other items and closed the meeting.