Professional Development Day: February 16, 2026

I’ve begun receiving a few questions about the Professional Development Day scheduled for February 16, 2026 (Presidents’ Day). To be clear, Presidents’ Day is a mandatory work day for three bargaining units: teachers, paraeducators, and clerical staff. It is not a mandatory work day for Food Service workers since they already did their mandatory day back in September.

The teacher, paraeducator and clerical units will participate in professional development on that day; however, the clerical unit will only have professional development in the morning only and will then return to their regular work schedule for the afternoon. 

Below is the professional development schedule for the remainder of the school year, including Presidents’ Day:

Professional Development Schedule 2025-2026

If you have any other questions about professional development day, please ask your supervisor for more information.

Hourly Employees and Snow Days

Since it's winter and we are likely to experience additional snow days this year, I want to remind hourly employees that they may use their accrued time to be paid when school is canceled due to inclement weather.

Paraeducators

According to Article 7:5 of the Paraeducator Contract, when school is canceled due to snow, paraeducators may use their personal leave time in order to be paid. If school is canceled and the state grants a waiver for the canceled day, paraeducators will be paid their full rate without using accrued time.

If school is delayed or dismissed early due to weather, paraeducators may choose one of the following options:

• Work a regular school day

• Arrive at the delayed opening time or leave when students are dismissed and be paid only for hours worked

• Work the shortened day and use personal leave time to be paid for a full regular work day

Secretaries

Under Article 7:6 of the Secretaries’ Contract:

• Schedule I employees may choose not to report to work when school is canceled due to weather or another unforeseen circumstance. To be compensated for the day, they may use vacation, personal, or compensatory time, at the employee’s discretion.

• Schedule II employees may use up to four (4) hours of available compensatory time, personal time, or vacation time to receive compensation when school is closed due to inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

Any election to use accrued time must be made within 48 hours in Kronos and will be paid within two payroll periods.

Food Service

If an entire school day is canceled due to weather-related or non-weather-related reasons, Tier I and Tier II food service employees may use a personal day to be paid for that day.

ASL and FEC Contract Update

The tentative agreement for the ASL and FEC contract received its first reading before the Board of Aldermen on January 13, 2026. Eight members of the Board of Aldermen sponsored the agreement, which already represents a majority of the 15-member board. For that reason, I am optimistic that the tentative agreement will be approved in the near future.

The next step in the ratification process is review by the Board of Aldermen’s Budget Committee. That meeting is scheduled for February 12, 2026, at 7:15 p.m. at City Hall. I plan to attend and will be available to answer any questions the committee may have about the contract.

If the Budget Committee recommends approval, the agreement will move to the full Board of Aldermen. The Board is scheduled to meet on February 24, 2026, so it is likely going to be presented then. 

Approval by the Board of Aldermen is the final step in the process, unless the mayor were to veto the agreement, which I do not believe is likely.

FY 2027 Nashua School District Budget

The Nashua School District has begun the process of developing the budget for the 2026–2027 school year. As with last year, this is expected to be a challenging budget cycle. If no reductions were made to the current budget, the proposed increase would be approximately 6.5%.

In Nashua, the city budget typically increases by no more than 3–4% per year in order to prevent property tax rates from rising faster than the cost of living. Keeping with that past practice, this year, the Mayor has asked all city departments, including the School District, to keep their budget increases below 3%, which leaves a budget gap of 3.5% for the Nashua School District.

To put this into perspective, the School District’s budget is approximately $135 million. Each 1% of the budget represents roughly $1.35 million, which is equivalent to 20–25 teaching positions. For this reason, as we did last year, I will be asking NTU members to attend upcoming School Board budget meetings to advocate for our positions and our schools.

Please mark the following key dates on your calendar:

• February 18, 2026 – Superintendent presents the proposed budget to the School Board

• March 9, 2026 – Public hearing on the FY 2027 Nashua School District budget

• March 11, 2026 – Board of Education budget approval meeting

All of these meetings will be held at Nashua High School North and will begin at 6:00 p.m. We may hold a rally prior to the meetings on March 9 and March 11; however, I will first consult with NTU leadership before finalizing any plans.

There are additional budget-related meetings scheduled that are less critical for member attendance. You can view the full schedule of Board of Education meetings from January through March here:

BOE Meeting Schedule

During last week's School Board meeting, I also asked administration and the Board to commit to voting on any position cuts, even if those cuts are proposed after the budget has been approved. During last year’s budget cycle, several positions were eliminated after final budget approval. While I understand that enrollment data is sometimes not finalized until later in the process, any proposed reductions to existing positions should be brought before the School Board for a public vote so that changes are made in an open and transparent manner.

Several School Board members agreed that this approach is appropriate and noted that it has been the practice in past years, though it did not occur last year.

Longevity Checks Schedule

Over break, Nashua School District COO Krystal De Gray shared the longevity payment schedule for all NTU contracts. Members who are eligible for longevity will receive their payments on the following dates:

• Clerical: December 31, 2025

• Teachers: January 29, 2026

• Food Service: January 29, 2026

• Paraeducators: May 7, 2026

*American Sign Language Interpreters and Family Engagement Coordinators have longevity language included in their tentative agreement. Eligible members will receive their longevity payments after the contract is approved by the Board of Aldermen.

On a related note, I want to thank Krystal De Gray for proactively communicating these dates. In past years, longevity payments were often issued late with little or no advance notice from Central Office, so this level of communication is appreciated.

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, 2026. Here is a sample retirement letter:

Sample Letter

If you have any questions about retirement in general, I highly suggest you reach out the NH Retirement System by phone or email. I speak with them often and they've always answered my questions quickly and accurately. Here's their contact information:

Phone: 603-410-3500

Email: info@nhrs.org

Questions? Comments? Need Assistance?  Contact a member of the Executive Board

Trying to email Gary? Make sure to use president@nashuatu.org