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North Andover officials hold most TA contract changes pending fiscal picture, cite absentee data
Summary
The school district told the teaching assistant unit it is "holding" or rejecting many contract proposals — from parental leave to stipends and added positions — until it can see the union's financial priorities, and presented absence data showing 18 TAs out (about 12% of 154) that it said must factor into decisions.
The North Andover School Committee and district negotiators told members of the teaching assistant unit on May 27 that many of the union's proposed contract changes are being held or rejected pending a fuller view of the bargaining unit's financial priorities.
"It is a significant financial investment to go from four weeks paid parental leave to 12 weeks paid parental leave," Kristen, a district representative, said as she presented the committee's written responses. "Until we know the priorities of the union, we can't take a stand on this particular article." The district used similar language about stipends, added positions and vacation and holiday proposals.
Kristen presented a one-day snapshot showing 18 teaching assistants absent that day — "almost 12% of our total teaching assistance staff" — and a four-week April 27–May 26 summary that showed particularly high Friday absences. When committee members asked for more context, Kristen said she could supply longer-term averages and a breakdown of absence types (sick, personal, unpaid).
On staffing, the union proposed assigning a teaching assistant to every pre-K, kindergarten, first-grade and small learning group classroom for the full day, in addition to one-to-one assignments. The district said that change would add roughly 20–30 positions — "increasing the TA labor force by 20%" — and described that scale as fiscally unsustainable without identified funding.
The district also pushed back on a range of non-economic items as written. It rejected changes to sick-time family-leave language, sought clarification on proposed workplace-protection and emotional-distress provisions (articles 15 and 16), and declined a proposed heat-protocol subsection that would trigger half-days when classroom temperatures exceed 85°F or fall below 60°F. On stipends, the district said it could not respond to proposals (for example, increasing toileting stipends from an estimated $1,200 a year to $4,000) without the union's overall financial priorities.
Both sides signaled areas of agreement. The district said it supports creating a TA-to-teacher pipeline and offering at least one MTEL (Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure) preparation course per year if parameters are defined. The parties disagreed on how seniority and benefit recognition would transfer if a TA becomes a certified teacher; the district requested clearer rules on step placement and seniority calculation.
The meeting produced no votes or formal agreements beyond scheduling future bargaining sessions. The district said it will convert the evening's slide presentation into a written proposal and provide additional absence and financial data before the next session; the union reiterated that it had already submitted its priorities and asked the committee to make an initial wage proposal to allow more focused negotiations.
Next procedural step: the parties will meet again June 8 to continue bargaining and exchange written proposals.
