Gardner Edgerton board and GNEA reach tentative deal: $750 to base, step; PTO conversion to be written

The Board of Education negotiation team and the Gardner-Edgerton Education Association (GNEA) reached a tentative agreement in principle after a July negotiation session in which GNEA presented member survey results and a revised compensation demand.

GNEA presented a survey of 114 analyzed responses showing 55.3% of respondents would not have approved the Board’s earlier package and said members prioritized "time and money." "We don't have a contract that will pass right now," the GNEA representative said, proposing "$750 plus a step" and one discretionary day to improve ratification prospects.

Board team lead Jody Marshall said the board accepted the $750-plus-step compensation increase but declined the discretionary day, offering instead to convert existing leave categories into paid time off (PTO). "We are, in agreement with your $750 comp request," Marshall said. Marshall cautioned that converting leave to PTO "will affect sellback of unused discretionary leave and our ability to track" some existing incentive provisions and that the change would require careful revisions to the negotiated agreement.

GNEA negotiators emphasized that the PTO conversion is a major structural change and asked both teams to identify specific sections of the negotiated agreement affected (sellback, sick leave, incentives, planning-time language). The teams agreed to create and use a shared document to mark contract sections requiring revision and to negotiate precise wording offline so that no existing benefit is unintentionally removed.

GNEA's presentation included comparative salary-schedule data showing Gardner teachers lagging neighboring districts at mid-career steps but comparing better at long-tenure steps; the data supported the union’s $750-plus-step request. The union also summarized free-text survey comments saying members wanted more leave days and higher pay; the two dominant themes were time and money.

Board negotiators said the district’s fiscal review uncovered roughly $200,000 in unspent budgeted funds that made the larger offer possible. "Now that the books have closed for fiscal year 26, we were able to find about 200,000 more of budgeted amount that we do not believe we will spend," a board team member said.

The teams set a schedule for final language, member notification and vote. The working timeline discussed was: exchange draft language and a summary by about July 16–21; distribute a summary to members on or about Aug. 3; hold a membership Zoom Q&A (proposed Aug. 5); collect member votes in the 10-day window; report results around Aug. 14; and, if results are favorable, consider a special board meeting the week of Aug. 17 or a regular board meeting in early September to finalize approvals. Both sides said they preferred to finalize language in a shared document to allow some members who are on summer leave to review changes.

Jody Marshall also noted district operational costs that frame the bargaining context: "we spend over 1,000,000 dollars a year on sub cost and class coverage," underscoring trade-offs the board cited when balancing raises and other budget priorities.

Next steps: the GNEA and board teams will identify affected negotiated-agreement sections, collaborate on precise contract language in a shared document, run the summary to membership on the agreed timeline, and report voting results back to the board for a potential August special meeting or the September regular meeting. Parties agreed to reopen negotiations if offline language work materially changes the agreement.

The tentative agreement is subject to GNEA membership ratification and further drafting to ensure conversion to PTO does not remove existing incentives or sellback provisions.