Middle School Staff!

This year, the Nashua School District implemented a number of changes at the middle school level. At the last Education Council meeting of the 2023-2024 school year, the Council voted to evaluate the effectiveness of these changes throughout the 2024-2025 school year. The vote was unanimous and had the support of NSD Board President, Jen Bishop, Dr. Andrade and all three union representatives who sit on Education Council. As part of this evaluation, Education Council is soliciting staff feedback through surveys. The surveys will be conducted three times during the school year: in early October, early December and early March. When their evaluation is complete, the Council will issue a report on the middle school changes to the School Board, which will become a public document that everyone can read.

Here is the December survey. The questions are the same ones as the October survey except for the last two:

December Education Council Survey  

Intensive Needs MOU

I met with Dr. Andrade last Tuesday to try to negotiate a new MOU for Intensive Needs Paraeducators. This time, I brought representation from the paraeducator and special educator unit to try and finalize a deal. Unfortunately, management's offer would have only benefited a handful of paraeducators in our District. It also would have redefined what a fully staffed special education program looks like in Nashua to a para-to-student ratio that is too high. Our side gave management several counter offers to try to reach a compromise but they were all rejected. I am sorry we were not able to negotiate a new deal before Thanksgiving Break but management's offer simply wasn't acceptable. I am going to try to negotiate a deal on Wednesday morning. If I cannot, I am simply going to send our proposal back to the Board of Education and ask them to approve it at their meeting on December 9th, 2024. I will let the membership know Wednesday afternoon if I was able to reach a tentative agreement with Dr. Andrade and what our next steps will be. 

Teacher Appreciation Event

United Way is hosting an appreciation event for educators, childcare providers and program directors on December 2nd and December 3rd, 2024. Feel free to drop in anytime between 12 pm to 6 pm on Monday or 10 am to 6 pm on Tuesday at the United Way Office at 20 Broad Street in Nashua. The United Way will have some free goodie bags available and a raffle where you can win additional prizes. 

Retirement

Reminder! If you are in the Teachers’ Unit and are considering retiring at the end of this school year, according to Article 4:9A, you must submit a binding letter of retirement to the Superintendent no later than February 1st, 2025. Here is a sample retirement letter:

Sample Letter

For any other questions about retirement, feel free to call or email the NHRS:

Phone: 603-410-3500

Email: info@nhrs.org