WESTFIELD – President of the Gateway Teachers Association James Duggan said yesterday that the GTA is still considering a proposal made by Gateway Regional School District Superintendent Dr. David Hopson at the last GRSD School Committee meeting of 2014.
Hopson sqid that, unless members of the district’s teachers union accept a one-day furlough set for parent-teacher conferences, the district will be forced to lay off six full-time and one part-time teacher on January 23.
The positions set to be eliminated include two full-time and one part-time high school teacher, as well as a middle school guidance counselor and three elementary teachers.
Hopson explained that the proposed layoffs were necessitated by an $18 million 9C cut to the state budget for regional transportation made by outgoing Gov. Deval L. Patrick, which will short the district $241,000 for 2015.
“I asked custodians, secretaries, para-professionals, administrative staff and non-union staff to give up something so that no one had to be laid off,” said Hopson at that December meeting. “You already asked – and have gotten – people who make substantially less than teachers to give up more than teachers are being asked to give up.”
Duggan said yesterday that the union is working on a counter proposal to the district’s ultimatum, but couldn’t divulge further as to what that proposal consists of.
“All I can say at the given time, is that we’re in the process of negotiating an agreement with the district,” said Duggan. “We’ll know more later in the week, most likely.”
At the last meeting of the district’s school committee many school committee members voiced their support for the teachers, the most vocal being Ruth Kennedy and Mary Ann Laurie, both of Russell, and Anne Marie Buikus of Montgomery.
Laurie stated her belief that the teachers shouldn’t have to give up anything and Buikus suggesting an administrative position be eliminated instead.
Seated in the audience, Huntington Finance Committee Member Darlene McVeigh joined Buikus in questioning how many administrators the district really needs.
“I’m disappointed that you feel that, to fill the void, you’re going to cut over six percent of your teaching staff,” said McVeigh to Hopson. “Cutting direct pupil services is unacceptable. You have two Level 3 schools and you’re going to cut seven teachers out?”
McVeigh said that when her husband was a teacher in the district, it only had two principals and many more students and suggested using money she said is sitting in a school choice fund to plug the deficit.
“You may not want to use that money, but if you don’t have a choice, I would rather, as a taxpayer, see you spend $200,000, lay off an administrative position and spend the balance to keep these seven teachers,” McVeigh said.
Asked whether proposing the elimination of an administrator is part of the the GTA’s counter-proposal, Duggan said it isn’t.
“That’s not part of what we’re proposing. That would be something the school committee would be concerned with,” said Duggan. “We’re just focusing on what our options are.”
