CHICOPEE – Although at the School Committee meeting on Nov. 15, there was no progress announced in reaching a new contract between the Chicopee Education Association and the School Department, two things took place.

Mayor Richard Kos announced his plan to raise taxes to provide an additional $600,000 that could be used by the School Committee for future use and his intent to appoint a group of people to analyze the school budget to seek ways to establish savings and efficiencies.

Kos read his statement, included below in its entirety, at the start of the meeting with second element of the meeting following: a speak-out from students, parents and teachers themselves in support of teachers not just receiving a raise but overall better working conditions.

Many of the speakers were given standing ovations by the audience of more than 100 people at the auditorium of Chicopee Comprehensive High School.

Students from Edward Bellamy Middle School showed a 16 year-old social studies text and a 20 year-old science book, both in poor condition, as examples of what they and teachers have in classrooms.

Kelly Walsh, a special education teacher at Bellamy, noted she had spent $1,000 of her own money helping to stock her classroom with supplies. She said her classroom could become unbearably hot making both her and her students uncomfortable.    

She asserted that negative comments were coming from the administration about the contract situation, yet she was dedicated to her job and her students.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” she told the committee.

One student, whose mother is a Chicopee teacher, told the committee she and her brother have eaten their dinner in their mother’s classroom while she finished her work that day.

“She still does too much school work at home,” the student said.

Another teacher said he had created a website for his students with homework assignments and other class items. He had to take it down because the costs to him, despite it being used by his students. He expressed concern the district will not be able to attract qualified teachers.

The following is Kos’ statement about contract negotiations:

“I would like to issue the following information with respect to the current negotiations with the Chicopee Education Association (CEA):

“First and foremost, we are committed to arriving at a mutually beneficial contract with our teachers.

“It was stated more than once that the Chicopee Education Association has been working without a contract since July 2017. This is not accurate; the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the Chicopee School Committee and the Chicopee Education Association remains in effect and is being honored by the parties as we negotiate a new contract.

“During this current school year, teachers within their first 13 years of experience continue to receive annual step raises that range from 2 to 5 percent and averaged 3.61 percent. Some employees covered by other unit contracts also received step raises. The total of all of these step raises was over $796,000, which increased this year’s school budget by that amount.

“The parties have been meeting to negotiate a new contract since October 2016. The School Committee has not delayed trying to reach an agreement. After negotiations entered the mediation stage, the School Committee’s representatives were willing to meet through the summer to attempt to resolve negotiations. However mediation did not resume until this month after the Education Association representatives had rejected an earlier, proposed date to meet.

“The School Committee is committed to reaching an agreement that will enhance the education programs, the delivery of instruction and the teaching environment for the teachers and students of this district. The School Committee continues to look for ways to resolve the contract.

“That being said: No one, including the superintendent, has received a raise this year, other than the 417 people who received step raises as the contracts were being honored.

“In this budget, there were no layoffs and no benefits were reduced in any way.

“Since last year, the Chicopee School Committee has continued to negotiate in good faith to reach a new contract with the Education Association covering certified staff, including mediation sessions with the state appointed mediator.  No agreement has been reached but the parties continue to mediate.

“I will be taking the following steps:

“Tomorrow [Nov. 16] I will be filing a financial order with the City Council to raise $1.2 million though the 2018 tax levy with $600,000 to be allocated to the School Department and $600,000 to be allocated to the city side to be used for collective bargaining purposes.

“I will be establishing a working committee consisting of municipal, school and public representatives to review the school budget and make recommendations as to ways to most effectively utilize the nearly $90 million budget to provide the best education for the students of Chicopee.

“This include committee will be chaired by John Mruk, a former Chicopee Education Association president, previous School Committee member and current member of the faculty at Elms College. The balance of the committee will be announced in the next few days and my goal will be that they will include students, teachers, public officials and citizens. They will be charged with reporting back a listing of options and opportunities for the School department to consider by the end of January 2018.

“I am hopeful that with the input from this impartial yet passionate body possible challenges that are blocking improvements will no longer be insurmountable.”