The communication below provides important information from the Public Schools of Brookline. Translated versions are available at the following links:

• Arabic: الرجاء الضغط هنا للترجمة العربية.
• Chinese: 点击这里查看中文翻译.
• Haitian Creole: Klike la a pou tradiksyon kreyòl ayisyen an.
• Hebrew: אנא לחץ כאן לצפייה במסמך בעברית.
• Japanese: ここをクリックして日本語の翻訳にアクセスしてください.
• Korean:  한국어 번역을 보시려면 여기를 클릭하십시오.
• Portuguese: Clique aqui para a tradução em português.
• Russian: Нажмите здесь, чтобы получить доступ к русскому переводу.
• Spanish: Haga clic aquí para acceder a la traducción al español.
• Vietnamese: Nhấn vào đây để truy cập bản dịch tiếng Việt.

Statement from the Negotiations Subcommittee – October 28, 2021

In keeping with our intention to share more frequent updates with the community, the Negotiations Subcommittee would like to report on our progress in negotiating contracts for Units A and B of the Brookline Educators Union (BEU).  As a reminder, last June we successfully negotiated a three-year (2020-2023) contract with the BEU Paraprofessional Unit, and recently we agreed to a COVID memorandum for the 2021-2022 school year.

We continue to negotiate in good faith with the BEU. Last night, we proposed a financial package for Unit A that includes the following, which is higher than our previous offer made last spring:

• 6% cost-of-living increase over 3 years. These raises are in addition to the contractual “steps” which provide annual pay increases for most educators based on years of experience.  For educators who have already reached the top of the pay scale, we offered an additional 10% increase to longevity pay.  Brookline teacher salaries are already the highest among our suburban peer districts; this offer would solidify the District’s advantage in recruitment and retention. 
  
  
• 5% increase to extra compensation, such as stipends for the afterschool sports, clubs, and other student enrichment activities.

Other notable elements of our proposal include:

• A joint PSB-BEU committee that would discuss working conditions over the next year, with the intent of accelerating future negotiations.
  
  
• To extend the K-8 teacher workday from 6.33 hours/day to 6.83 hours/day. This would align K-8 with the High School, and most importantly, would ensure that teachers are present for 10 minutes before and after the school day.

Our intent in this proposal is to be student-focused and respectful of educators, while acknowledging the financial reality of the Town.  We look forward to reaching an agreement soon.

Suzanne Federspiel

Valerie Frias

Andy Liu

• October 28 Statement from the Negotiations Subcommittee