Last week, members of Unit B - Para-Educators ratified their new 2-year contract. That same evening, the Board of Education approved the contract with a vote of 9-0. The Board of Aldermen held the first reading, per their rules, on September 28th. The BOA Budget Review Committee will review the contract on October 6th with the hopes of the Board of Aldermen approving the contract on October 12th.

It has been a long two years of negotiations and obstacles to overcome. The largest one was COVID. We had some momentum, and then everything shut down. When we finally got back, the contract had been expired for almost 6 months, and we still weren't close to a tentative agreement. As we moved forward, and were closing in, our team suffered a terrible loss. Our Chief Negotiator, and my good friend, Doug Ley, passed away unexpectedly after a brief illness. Ironically, Doug passed the morning of June 11th, the day we agreed to the tentative agreement. Do I think Doug had something to do with it, yes, I do.

As we finally conclude this process, I want to stop and thank the members of the Para-Educator Negotiating Team. The team includes Pat Walsh from Pennichuck, Deb Adasczik from Mt. Pleasant, Bobbie Desjardins from New Searles, and Sandi Peterson from Fairgrounds Elementary. These were part of 17 negotiations sessions and several internal and planning meetings, in addition to the numerous emails and correspondence. The process started June 19, 2019 and they are have worked tirelessly for the membership since that day. On behalf of the membership, I would like to express my sincerest thanks and gratitude to the Para-Educator Negotiating Team for their dedication to their colleagues. I would also like to take a moment and recognize and thank Terri Donovan, Director of Field Services and Collective Bargaining at AFT-NH. Terri help us finish the contract.

With this contract, expected to be approved, expiring on June 30, 2022, the team and I will be right back to the table to work on a successor agreement in early 2022.