Thomas Breen file photo
Supt. Tracey: "Let us not present New Haven Public Schools in a negative light."
New hires will receive signing bonuses through the end of January in the public school district’s latest effort to recruit more teachers, paraprofessionals, social workers, and safety officers — amid an ongoing flood of staff resignations and publicly vented concerns about substandard working conditions in the city’s schools.
The Board of Education voted unanimously during an online Tuesday night meeting to use federal pandemic-relief money to fund a tiered signing bonus plan.
The ed board members also heard from a slew of local public school teachers who spoke up during the public input section of the meeting about how the ongoing teacher shortage is the result of low wages, poor benefits, disrespect from leadership and extraordinarily intensive workloads compared to other nearby municipal school districts. Those teachers warned that many more of their colleagues will likely leave the district if a new union contract doesn’t guarantee higher salaries and better benefits. (See below for more on teacher testimony at Tuesday’s meeting, as well as for the superintendent’s response.)
The now-approved bonus plan, meanwhile, offers individuals taking on hard-to-fill school district jobs — such as math teachers, special education professionals, school psychologists, and world language teachers — a maximum of $5,000 extra.
New school social workers and elementary teachers, who fall into a so-called “high vacancy” category, will receive an extra $2,500 signing bonus, while new paraprofessionals will receive $1,250 each.
All other newly hired teachers across general subjects like art, dance and history will get the minimum signing bonus of $1,000 each.
NHPS
NHPS Superintendent Iline Tracey said on Tuesday night that all school district hires will receive their bonuses at the end of the academic year to decrease the likelihood of sudden departures.
The bonus policy was passed alongside a plan to increase the hourly rates at which teachers, paras and administrators are paid for staffing before- and after-school programming.
“Based on the teacher shortage, it has been very difficult to operate before- and after-school programs for our students who need it most,” Tracey wrote in her proposal to the board.
Teachers will now be paid $45 per hour rather than $35, paras $25 per hour, and school administrators $50 per hour in exchange for coming in early and staying late.
Teachers: "Our Limits Are Stretched To The Point Of Snapping"
Maya McFadden File Photo
Teachers' union Prez Blatteau: A fair contract or more empty classrooms.
Those two now-approved financial boosts come during a tense period of contract negotiations between the district’s teachers’ union and the Board of Education.
While the district is focusing on recruitment efforts, they continue to struggle with staff retention.
In an interview last week, NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon said the district is currently looking to fill over 80 vacant teacher positions. Fourteen teachers and two administrators have resigned in the past two weeks. That’s on top of an additional 62 teachers who have resigned so far this year.
Teachers’ union President Leslie Blatteau, among many others, spoke out to “make sure the public knows what’s been going on with contract negotiations with our teachers.”
She expressed disappointment in how the board handled the union’s attempts to better their pay and protections, stating that the Board of Education’s negotiation team walked away from a mediation session without informing the union after teachers had drafted counter-proposals to what they called an unfair contract.
“If their proposal is approved, we will lose more teachers,” Blatteau promised.
Multiple teachers spoke up about having been offered teaching positions at nearby schools with smaller classrooms, higher salaries, and stronger benefits.
“I have never had so many people trying to poach me,” said English teacher Barbara Sasso, who has taught at Wilbur Cross for over 25 years.
“Our limits are stretched to the point of snapping,” teacher Rebecca Mickelson added. “We will not accept this as our daily norm for days on end,” she said of current working conditions, describing hold-outs on conversations around competitive wages as “reprehensibly selfish.”
The board members declined to comment directly about the contract following the teachers’ testimonies.
Board member Darnell Goldson inquired whether the bonus policy had received support from the union.
“I tried to reach out the union twice but didn’t get a response,” Superintendent Tracey responded. “I don’t think we need an agreement per se,” she added.
Goldson critiqued the plan, asserting that “we have the shortages in those hard-to-fill areas because of all the things that our teachers talked about this afternoon. That is, we don’t value them in the contract.”
“Contract negotiations as agreed upon by the two teams are not to be discussed publicly,” Tracey said. “It’s unethical to discuss it publicly when they’re still in negotiations.”
“I’m insulted by that, quite frankly,” Goldson replied, noting that he had not said any comments about the contract that hadn’t already been made in public. He said he would agree to the new bonuses — but only to pass the adjoining policy establishing better wages for those working overtime through before and after care.
The board then went into executive session to discuss the contract. After hours of private conversation, they announced that the board would return to the table to talk with the union with the goal “of an amicable resolution.”
Tracey: "We Have To Stop The Divisive Rhetoric"
At Tuesday night's Board of Ed meeting.
At 11:54 a.m. Wednesday, Tracey sent a follow up email to school district staff with the subject line: “Negotiations.” In that email, she responded to teacher criticisms from Tuesday night about the union contract negotiating process.
“Let me be clear, the Board of Education’s negotiating team did not walk away from the negotiating table with the teachers union after 9.5 hours of deliberation one day last week,” Tracey wrote. “Attorney Mooney informed the mediator that our team was willing to continue meetings to come to a resolution. How that was conveyed to the team I don’t know because I wasn’t there. I was truly disappointed last night that there were insinuations that New Haven Public Schools administration disrespected teachers. The notion that there is disrespect of teachers by central administration is ludicrous and has no merit. Spreading such rhetoric is disingenuous, utilizing a time of great need for the district to get teachers and spreading inaccurate information at the same time is like taking advantage of someone in the time of need.”
Tracey wrote that it is “unfortunate” that “folks are reacting to a one sided presentation of the negotiation efforts that have been occurring over the past month. The Union’s negotiation team and the Board of Education’s team agreed upon rules of engagement and that all things would be kept confidential. That agreement has been broken with letters sent to staff, members calling or emailing the Board and the Mayor’s office etc. I was surprised when I received a letter from a staff member with information shared by the Union. We will not share the specifics of the negotiating points and disagreements with the union, as we adhere to the rules of engagement. There is more than one side to any story, but we will not engage in this public going back and forth.”
She wrote that the district’s negotiation team allowed teachers from the union’s negotiation team to “meet on a school day which usually does not occur, but we know how important this negotiation is, and allowed it. There was a mediator that went from group to group to convey information, so there were no direct talk with any member of the negotiation teams. All communication was done by the mediator whose role was to take information from one team to the next.
“One thing I know is that we have to stop the divisive rhetoric that is being spilled out in public and work for what is best for staff and the district. Negotiation is not one sided. Collaboration is not one sided. Negotiation is a give and take and compromise here and there.
“Let us not present New Haven Public Schools in a negative light. When we do this, we are preventing people to come and work in New Haven Public Schools. If we truly are about students, our staff, and their well-being, we need to tone down the rhetoric and stop articulating the whole notion of disrespect. Our team is always willing to continue negotiation as was shared with the mediator. Teachers, please know that we are negotiating in good faith and ensuring and separating what belongs in contract negotiation versus what is called permissive.”
Correction: the 14 resignations have been int the past two weeks.
There have been 62 (in addition to that 14). since the beginning of the school year, not counting retirements. [Managing editor's note: Thank you for the correction!]