Westfield High School teachers gathered together under the flagpole in front of the school before entering the building just minutes before parents arrived for the open house Tuesday evening. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – What has certainly been a contentious start to the academic year in the Westfield school district in the aftermath of a minor dress-code controversy at the high school is about to get even more so, as the city’s teachers are planning to abide by a work-to-rule action by the Westfield Education Association.
Work-to-rule can be described simply as when workers perform only the amount of work required and adhere as strictly as possible to rules stipulated by their union contract.
Meant to be a less disruptive alternative to a formal strike, work-to-rule protests are sometimes referred to as “rulebook slowdowns”, which Westfield Education Association President Lori Hovey believes couldn’t be further from the truth.
“The work-to-rule action isn’t going to slow any classroom down,” Hovey said. “Teachers will still continue to do their good work in the classroom. The issue is that (Westfield’s) teachers really, truly need to be compensated better for the work they do.”
In an education setting, a work-to-rule action would mean that teachers will only work their normal hours in the school day, no more, no less, and according to Westfield High School Principal Jonathan Carter, Wednesday went smoothly despite being the first day of the work-to-rule action.
“The building opened up at 7:15 today, and all teachers entered the building at 7:10,” he said yesterday. “We opened the building business as usual. It is my understanding that most, if not all, teachers will be leaving the building at 1:59 today as part of the action.”
According to WHS and Westfield Voc-Tech Athletic Director Karen Gomez, employees at the school who are paid a stipend to work after school, such as some athletic coaches, are still going to be working as usual.
“I haven’t had any coaches say they aren’t coaching,” Gomez said. “Unless I go out to the field at 2:30 and find some teams alone, but I don’t believe that would happen.”
Gomez also spoke of the uniquely difficult position some coaches find themselves in as some also work as teachers at the school.
“I would say 50 percent” Gomez said of the amount of coaches who are WHS faculty. “We must remember that stipend positions work for the students.”
Gomez, who is a unit B member of the WEA in addition to being the Bomber’s varsity field hockey coach, did say that there was a different feeling in the school yesterday morning.
“It felt a bit empty,” she said. “I reported to duty at 7 a.m. this morning.”
Teachers gathered under the flagpole in front of the Montgomery Road school the night before at the first open house of the year before entering the school together.
One source close to the situation stated that they were unsure as to whether the open house would even happen until an hour before the event, but that it was agreed upon that the work-to-rule action would begin Wednesday morning, excluding the Tuesday evening open house.
At WHS at 1:55 Wednesday afternoon, school buses were already shuttling students away and some faculty were leaving as well, many of whom declined comment.
Under the current union structure within the school system, approximately 120 teachers at WHS are represented, along with 26 paraprofessionals and five administrators, making Westfield High School the largest school in the district, in terms of union representation.
Hovey believes that the teachers and staff that she represents deserve better.
“We’re one of the lowest paid districts in western Mass.,” she said, before listing other nearby “large-local” districts where teachers are paid higher wages, such as Agawam, Chicopee, Holyoke, and West Springfield. “Depending on what salary schedule a teacher is on (in those districts), they could make $3,000-8,000 more than a teacher in Westfield.”
She said that an entry level salary for a teacher in Westfield is $36,000, compared to $42,000 in West Springfield.
Hovey said she isn’t pointing fingers of blame at any one group or another, but simply states that the teachers have had enough.
“We have given and given,” she said. “These are tough financial times for everyone, but teachers (in Westfield) have funded their own raises and have nothing left to give. You can’t get blood from a stone.”
When asked of the situation brewing in the school department, Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik chose not to make a comment now, but said he would be issuing a statement next week.
Though not involved in the negotiations with the WEA, Westfield Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion said that negotiations are ongoing, and that this situation is not unique to Westfield.
“I am not at the table,” she said. “I’ve got to stay focused on running a large school district.”
“I was a teacher for seventeen years and a principal for fifteen,” she said. “So I’ve been on both sides of this issue. Clearly this is a blow to a school climate that we’ve worked so hard to cultivate.”
Teacher’s unions in numerous districts around the Commonwealth have chosen to adopt work-to-rule policies within the past few years, including Andover and Westford last year in Middlesex County. Most notably, Boston, home to the largest school district in New England, experienced 27 months of work-to-rule action by it’s teachers before reaching a tentative contractual agreement a year ago today.
While two years and three months of work-to-rule action is certainly not an ideal situation for Westfield teachers, students, or the school district, Carter believes that, for the time being, the school will remain running at an optimal level.
“The school could operate indefinitely… We’re going to do our best and continue to deliver services to our students that we expect to do every day,” he said. “The impact so far has been minimal, though I do understand there are legitimate concerns that parents and students have about how this is going to affect everybody.”
“I am proud of the work of the (high school) staff,” Scallion said. “They’ve responded to a lot of initiatives from the district.”
Hovey said she hopes for a swift agreement on the matter.
“I would love to have this resolved next week,” she said. “But we’re prepared to do what it takes.”
Hovey said the WEA has filed a mediation with the Department of Labor Relations, and are currently awaiting a response.
