MARLBOROUGH – While the Assabet Valley School Committee discussed the budget for fiscal 2024 on March 7, the issue of contract negotiations with the teachers union remained close at hand.
Kathy Barber, a teacher who’s worked at Assabet for 15 years, said she hoped an increase in teachers’ salaries would be part of the budget.
“Two contracts were voted down,” she said. “No one on either side wants to vote another contact down.”
Maria Silva, director of business operations, said $400,000 has been set aside in a contingency account in case a contract is ratified before the end of the year.
After the meeting, Daniel G. Capuano, lead teacher in the Automotive Technology Department and vice president of the union, issued the following statement:
“We are confident that there will be an agreement reached on a reasonable deal for both parties. We are not interested in any sort of disruptions that will have any negative effects on our students. This simply runs counter to our ethos as a staff.
“We are the group who wanted to come back to in person learning in September of 2020 when so many other districts stayed remote.
“We love our school. We love our kids and we truly care about the communities we serve.”
The committee approved a proposed budget of $25,288,374.
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