Negotiation Updates

Unit A Negotiations June 11, 2025 Meeting Update

In the June 11 meeting, the Dedham Education Association shared two counterproposals to language first proposed by the School Committee Negotiations Subcommittee. The first lengthened the amount of time to start the day that elementary educators would not be able to be evaluated for formal observation, in response to the Negotiations Subcommittee’s proposed 10 minutes to account for the 10 minutes of earlier starting time to lengthen the elementary school day. The second counterproposal contained new language added to a proposal that would increase elementary school parent teacher conferences and reduce the number of elementary school report card periods from 3 to 2. 

The DEA also brought forward their latest wage proposal, which is as follows:

Year 1

• 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
• $450 added to each Top Step salary

Year 2

• 3.5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
• $775 added to each Top Step salary

Year 3

• 4% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
• $1025 added to each Top Step salary

As the Negotiations Subcommittee reviewed this proposal, they also shared expanded data that the School Committee is using to review financial proposals. This document now contains 42 comparable districts, up from 26. In addition to districts that are talent competitive within a 45 minute driving radius from Dedham and the 10 comparable districts based on enrollment characteristics, provided by the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education’s (DESE) District Analysis and Review Tools (DART), the School Committee added DESE’s Resource Allocation and District Action Reports (RADAR) districts, which provide comparable districts based on demographics and financial characteristics. 

While the amount of comparable districts was expanded, the district’s salaries remained at or near the highest salaries for steps 1 and 5 of all lanes, and in the top 10 (top 25%) for top step salaries across all lanes. Additionally, the comparison of recent settlements was expanded to include the new RADAR districts, and also updated to include the School Committee’s most recent offer of a 1.75% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Fiscal Year 2026. With this COLA, at step 5 of the Master’s lane, Dedham’s salary is 2nd among the 21 comparable districts with a settled contract, behind only Brookline. Norwood, whose educators received a 3.25% COLA, would require an additional 7.68% added to that 3.25% to match Dedham’s salaries at the School Committee’s most recent proposal. 

The district’s projected cost of this proposal and the supplemental information that informed this proposal can be found here.

Unit A Negotiations June 4, 2025 Meeting Update

In the June 4 negotiations meeting between the School Committee’s Negotiations Subcommittee and the Dedham Education Association, the School Committee brought forward a counterproposal that would extend the elementary school school day by 10 minutes, resulting in 30 additional hours in increased face to face instruction eligible for the state’s Time on Learning requirement. While this would not lengthen the educator work day, the DEA stated in previous meetings a desire to avoid formal evaluation observations early in the morning, so this counterproposal acknowledged that ask by carving out the first ten minutes of the school day to be free from formal observation for the purpose of evaluations. 

In addition to the request to lengthen the school day, the Negotiations Subcommittee also brought forward a new wage proposal, which for this meeting included  data of recent wage settlements from comparable districts. At the most recent School Committee proposal for a 1.5% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in Fiscal Year 2026, at the Bachelor’s Top Step lane, only 4 districts would have a higher salary than Dedham, while 11 would have a lower salary. A notable comparable district that has settled for FY26 is Norwood, whose teachers received a 3.25% COLA. The graphic (included in supplemental information shared below) shows that while Norwood educators received a 3.25% COLA, they would need an increase of 10.82% to match Dedham’s salary. 

The School Committee’s proposal was:

Year 1

• 1.75% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
• $450 added to each Top Step salary

Year 2

• 2.0% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
• $775 added to each Top Step salary

Year 3

• 2.25% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
• $1025 added to each Top Step salary

The district’s projected cost of this proposal and the supplemental information that informed this proposal can be found here.

Unit A Negotiations May 21, 2025 Meeting Update

The May 21 negotiations meeting was the first between the Dedham Education Association and the School Committee Negotiations Subcommittee since Town Meeting. At this year’s Town Meeting, the School Committee was awarded a 3.97% increase, a reduction from the School Committee’s voted budget request of a 5.67% increase and the level service budget of a 7.97% increase. The events of Town Meeting were discussed at the table, including the concerns of the “fiscal cliff” that the town is aiming to avoid. The Negotiations Subcommittee emphasized that the School Committee is aiming for a sustainable budget over the next few fiscal years to avoid further reductions to the number of educators the district employs. 

The DEA asked for more discussion on outstanding proposals involving department chairs, start times of school, the educator evaluation rubric, and the elementary report card proposals.

The DEA also put forward a wage counterproposal of:

• Year 1: 3.25% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
• Year 2: 4% COLA
• Year 3: 5% COLA

This proposal did not include the previously DEA proposed reduction of the bottom steps of the salary table.

The DEA also withdrew proposals around Teaching Hours and Teaching Load and increased Early Dismissals.

Following a discussion from the previous meeting, the school administration clarified that there was one new administrative FTE added to better distribute the caseload of students on Individual Education Plans and also discussed the count of Instructional Leadership, Teacher Leader, Team Leaders, which are all grant funded positions with no current impact to operating budget.
 

Unit A Negotiations May 7, 2025 Meeting Update

During the May 7th meeting between the DEA and the School Committee Negotiations Subcommittee, the School Committee provided new counter proposals for the DEA’s consideration. 

The first  would extend the student learning day by 10 minutes at the elementary school level, adding 30 more hours of student learning to the school year, without impacting the length of the work day for Unit A members. The second offered a pilot program to test a special 30 minute early release day  for the high school only, to provide high school educators with 50 minutes of common planning time. 

The School Committee also provided a new wage proposal. This wage proposal demonstrated the fiscal projections based on the School Committee’s proposed 5.67% budget increase and the  Finance and Warrant Committee’s recommended 4% budget increase for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.

The School Committee’s May 7 wage proposal was as follows:

Flat COLA (applied equally to all steps)

Year 1

• 1.5% COLA
• $450 on top step

Year 2

• 1.75% COLA
• $775 on top step

Year 3

• 2.0% COLA
• $1,025 on top step

This proposal, at the Finance and Warrant Committee’s recommended 4% budget increase,  would over the next 3 years necessitate the reduction of 38 full time equivalent positions, compared to the April 8 DEA proposal that would require the reduction of 71 full time equivalent positions. 

The School Committee maintained that there are significant financial constraints on the town’s overall budget, with the Finance and Warrant Committee highlighting how the town’s structural deficit is accelerating the town towards a fiscal cliff. 

The School Committee’s wage proposal would still require a reduction in staff, but at a much smaller magnitude than at the wage levels proposed by the DEA on April 8. 

To view more information on the projections of the DEA’s April 8 wage proposal and the School Committee’s May 7 wage proposal, as well as the data that went into the School Committee’s consideration, click here.

Unit A Negotiations April 8, 2025 Meeting Update

In the April 8 meeting of the DEA and the School Committee Negotiations Subcommittee, the parties continued to exchange responses and counter proposals to a number of unresolved topics. 

The School Committee responded to the outstanding proposals from the DEA, tentatively agreeing with two of the DEA’s counter proposals, one limiting which Unit A grievances can occur during the student learning day, and the other clarifying the work days for guidance counselors at the middle and high schools. 

The School Committee rejected proposals containing topics that were not appropriate in the eyes of the Negotiations Subcommittee to memorialize in the contract, and also rejected proposals regarding the workload of Department Chairs, preferring to have a more comprehensive discussion about all of the proposals dealing with Department Chairs.  

The DEA submitted its latest wage counterproposal, which the School Committee took under consideration.

The proposal was presented as follows:

Year 1

• 3.75% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
• $750 on top step
• Remove Step 1

Year 2

• 4% COLA
• $1,000 on top step

Year 3

• 5% COLA
• $1,250 on top step
   

Unit A Negotiations March 26, 2025 Meeting Update

In the March 26, 2025 meeting, the School Committee’s Negotiations Subcommittee and the DEA, the parties reached tentative agreement on a School Committee counterproposal allowing for Unit A tuition reimbursement funds to be used to fund professional memberships. This was initially brought forward by the DEA to address membership for school nurses in the National Association of School Nurses, and the School Committee counterproposal expands this to be more widely applicable. The DEA withdrew a number of proposals in this meeting, with many relating to compensation of teacher time or aspirational language that the School Committee worried could be misconstrued based on recent court cases. The DEA rejected a School Committee proposed Joint Labor Management Committee consisting of Unit A and School Department representatives to review and propose modifications to the district’s Educator Evaluation Handbook, with the School Committee’s stated goal of bringing the district’s handbook into better alignment with the handbook designed by the state. 

The School Committee also responded with a counter wage proposal with two different options for the consideration of the DEA. Both proposals cost the district an identical amount, but one proposal contained flat cost of living adjustments (COLA) for the next three fiscal years, but the other proposal consisted of “tiered” COLAs, which would provide targeted compensation growth to higher steps. The School Committee’s rationale for a tiered proposal was that it would address the salaries for more tenured teachers, where Dedham Public Schools is slightly less competitive with local or enrollment similar (DART) districts, providing less of an increase to the lower level steps where the district is already extremely competitive. 

A summary of the wage proposal:

Tiered 

Year 1

• Steps 1-10/11 - .5% COLA
• Steps 11 or 12 to Top Step - 1.5% COLA
• $450 on top step

Year 2

• Steps 1-10/11 - .75% COLA
• Steps 11 or 12 to Top Step - 2% COLA
• $775 on top step

Year 3

• Steps 1-10/11 - 1% COLA
• Steps 11 or 12 to Top Step - 2.5% COLA
• $1,025 on top step

Flat COLA (applied equally to all steps)

Year 1

• 1.25% COLA
• $450 on top step

Year 2

• 1.50% COLA
• $775 on top step

Year 3

• 1.75% COLA
• $1,025 on top step

For the complete wage proposal, including the budget impact the School Committee projects these wage proposals to have, click here. For the previous DEA wage proposal, and the financial data the School Committee considered to inform its proposal, click here.

Unit A Negotiations March 12, 2025 Meeting Update

On March 12, 2025, the DEA and the School Committee’s Negotiations Subcommittee again met. In this meeting, the DEA proposed a counter proposal around language to increase the number of preschool, kindergarten, and elementary parent teacher conferences from one to two, with those conferences occurring on an early release day. The DEA’s counter proposal added language that clarified that early release days for the purpose of parent teacher conferences would follow the same schedule as a typical early release day, but that these specific early release days could apply only to the ECEC and elementary schools, and do not need to be district wide early release days.

In this meeting, the School Committee provided the data generated through analysis of the DEA’s March 3 wage proposal. This data includes: 

• (1) a review of internal turnover and retention data, showing a 3 year average retention rate of 96.9%; 
• (2) a comparison of the structure of Dedham’s wage scale with 16 local talent competitive districts and the 10 “DART” districts with similar enrollment as defined by DESE, for a total of 26 comparable districts; 
• (3) comprehensive wage comparisons for Step 1, Step 5, and Top Step for 5 different lanes of completed education (Bachelors, Masters, Doctorate or higher, etc.); and 
• (4) a cost projection that the wage proposal would have on the Dedham Public Schools operating budget over the next three fiscal years. 

Dedham’s teachers are compensated at an extremely competitive rate in comparison to the 26 comparable districts, with Step 1 and Step 5 positioned in the top 3 among the 26 districts for all lanes, and Top Step in the top 10 across all lanes in the same comparison. 

The School Committee’s cost projection, assuming total growth of 4.5% annually with 3% for goods and services,  indicates that the DEA’s proposal would lead to escalating budget deficits over the next 3 fiscal years. These deficits would necessitate the reduction of over 70  Full Time Equivalent employees over those three years to close the gap, assuming an $80,000 average salary.

View the Committee’s full data analysis here.

Unit A Negotiations March 3, 2025 Meeting Update

The DEA and the School Committee’s Negotiations Subcommittee met on March 3, 2025. The parties continued to exchange revised proposals and counter proposals and reached a tentative agreement on a few proposals. The School Committee shared a revised package of proposals concerning paid time off (PTO), with a number of revisions based on the discussion from the previous negotiations meeting. 

The newly revised package aimed to address some of the concerns brought forward by the DEA regarding how PTO is earned, used, and how the District can incentivize attendance by Unit A members to enhance face to face instruction of students. 

The DEA responded to the School Committee’s wage counterproposal with the following:

Year 1

• 4% Cost of living adjustment (COLA)
• $1000 on top step
• Remove Step 1

Year 2

• 4.5% COLA
• $1000 on top step
• Remove Step 2

Year 3

• 6% COLA
• $1000 on top step
• Remove Step 3

The School Committee plans to analyze the DEA wage proposal with existing data on impact to the school annual operating budget and comparisons with local and the 10 comparable districts based on enrollment characteristics, provided by the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education’s District Analysis and Review Tools (DART), which serve as a benchmarking tool for school districts statewide.

Unit A Negotiations February 10, 2025 Meeting Update

In the February 10, 2025 meeting, the DEA and the Negotiations Subcommittee spent a significant portion of the meeting discussing proposals on the table that would address paid time off (PTO). 

The School Committee’s proposed package included:

• Expanded sick leave benefits for Unit A members with children or household family members who are sick, 
• Removed restrictions around sick time  for new Unit A members, and
• Added specific language regarding sick and personal time that encourages strong attendance to benefit student instruction. 

While the DEA rejected the package, there was a productive discussion around the content of the individual proposals. The DEA’s PTO proposals on the table covered: 

• Missed preparation time, 
• Giving a permanent voting majority to Unit A for the Sick Leave Bank Committee, personal days, 
• Expanded sick leave buy back, sick bank donation, family sick time, and expanded parental leave. 

The Negotiations Subcommittee shared feedback on these proposals and rejected the DEA proposals based on their impact on the Negotiations Subcommittee’s package of proposals.

Unit A Negotiations January 28, 2025 Meeting Update

On January 28th the DEA and the Negotiations Subcommittee continued to present responses to language and wage proposals exchanged by the parties. 

To view the current status of proposals, click here.

DEA revision of prior DEA proposals included: 

1. Three language proposals that would establish aspirational goals to maintain certain levels of staffing for librarians, interventionist, and instructional coaches. 
2. Language regarding the maintenance and conditions in faculty/staff bathrooms. 
3. Language establishing additional compensation for unit members responsible for planning field trips. 
4. Language establishing protocols for management of extreme temperatures in classrooms and clinics. 
5. Language establishing protocols and expectations for district notification to the DEA regarding use of outside contractors to provide instructional services. 

DEA counter proposals included:

1. A revised proposal to modify language relating to paid time off for bereavement leave. 
2. A revised proposal to provide additional compensation to unit members for time associated with moving classrooms. 
3. A revised proposal to provide additional compensation to unit members who apply for and are selected to teach courses or manage caseloads that exceed their contractual duties. 
4. A revised proposal to amend language regarding the maintenance of specialist staffing at the elementary level.
5. A revised proposal to amend language specifying the number of parent-teacher conferences at the elementary level. 

On January 28th, the Negotiations Subcommittee presented a counter proposal to the DEA’s initial wage proposal (12/9/24) which aimed to:

• Provide a differentiated wage package that ensures wage increases for all unit members while addressing less competitive wages for top step employees through: 

1. a tiered approach to cost of living adjustments (COLA) at early, middle, and top steps. 
2. wage differentials applied to top step salaries. 
3. recognizing longevity earlier in educator’s careers in Dedham through adjustments to step increases in the pay scale. 

• Ensure that the school department’s budget stabilizes and returns to year over year increases that the town can afford through annual appropriation at Town Meeting. 

In preparing this wage counterproposal, the Negotiations Subcommittee reviewed comprehensive data, including comparisons to local school districts, a more complete review of individual employee compensation, and considerations of potential budgetary impacts to the school and town operating budgets for future years.

Unit A Negotiations January 14, 2025 - Committee Supporting Data - Operating Budget Impacts

Supporting data and charts related to projected Operating Budget Impacts shared during the January 14th meeting by the Committee in response to the DEA’s initial wage proposal from December 9, 2024.

The School Department’s projected Operating Budget (blue) growth includes the School Committee’s proposed Fiscal 2026 budget increase of 5.67% and 4.5% increases for Fiscal 2027 and Fiscal 2028. 4.5% growth is the 12 year average growth rate for the School Department’s budget. 

If the Committee agreed to the DEA’s December 9, 2024 wage proposal the School Department would face projected budget gaps of:

• $778,834 in Fiscal 2026,
• $2.7 million in Fiscal 2027
• $5.5 million in Fiscal 2028

Balancing the Budget Gaps 
The average teacher salary is Dedham is currently $94,268.

Closing the projected budget gap in Fiscal 2026 would require the reduction of approximately 8 positions.

• Fiscal 2027 would require the reduction of approximately 28.5 positions
• Fiscal 2028 would require the reduction of approximately 58 positions.

The cumulative projected personnel reductions needed to close the projected gaps created would total approximately 95.5 positions (~18% of the School Department’s workforce). 

Unit A Negotiations January 14, 2025 Meeting Update

On January 14th the DEA and the Negotiations Subcommittee presented their initial responses to language and wage proposals exchanged by the parties. In total the DEA has presented 40 language and wage proposals and the Negotiations Subcommittee has presented 20 language proposals.  As of January 14th the Negotiations Subcommittee had tentatively agreed to 5 of the DEA’s language/wage proposals which is 12.5% of the DEA’s total proposals. 

A table summarizing the current status of proposals, each negotiating team’s responses to the other party’s proposals and the number and percentage of proposals by the type of response offered can be found here. The status table as of January 14th can also be viewed below. 

The Negotiations Subcommittee reviewed the DEA’s December 9, 2024 initial wage proposal and shared contextual data with the DEA’s bargaining team on January 14th. The data presented by the Negotiations Subcommittee included: 

• The estimated cost and budgetary impact of the DEA’s wage proposal. 
• The three year growth to educator wages as a result of the DEA’s wage proposal. 
• Wage comparisons for Dedham relative to 16 suburban communities that are “talent competitive” (communities within a 45 minute commute to Dedham).

Proposal Response Status - As of January 14, 2025:

When the parties respond to proposals by the other negotiating team they can respond by: 

1. Tentatively agreeing - This means that the responding party agrees to the other party’s proposal pending a final agreement on changes to the next contract. 
2. Rejecting - This means that the responding party rejects the other party’s proposal. 
3. Countering - This means that the responding party may agree to the other party’s proposal but is suggesting changes to that proposal.
4. Withdrawing - This means that the proposing party withdraws the proposal and will not longer pursue the proposed change to the contract. 
5. Requesting clarification - This means that the responding party has questions about the other party’s proposal and needs more information to fully formulate a response. 
6. Not responding - This means that the responding party does not have a response to the other party’s proposal at this time. 
    

Unit A Negotiations December 9, 2024 Meeting Update- DEA Initial Wage Proposals
 

At the December 9, 2024 negotiation meeting, the DEA’s presented their initial wage proposal to the Committee, which included direct wage adjustments through Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs), adjustments to longevity stipends, and salary increases to specific steps on the salary schedule. 

The initial wage proposal provided by the DEA included:

The next phase of the negotiations process will commence at the January 14th meeting of the negotiations teams.

Introductory Update - Unit A Negotiations for 2025-2028

The Negotiating Subcommittee and senior DPS administrators met with the DEA’s negotiation team four times between October and December 2024 (October 22, November 13, November 20, and December 9). Over the course of the first meetings the negotiation teams established ground rules to guide the process, scheduled meetings through March 2025,  and exchanged three rounds of proposals detailing the changes in working conditions and wages that each party hopes to achieve through this round of negotiations. December 9th was the final date for exchange of proposals.

Broadly speaking, the Committee aims to settle a contract for educators that (1) optimizes teacher working conditions to best support student learning, (2) maintains the existing highly competitive compensation system for Unit A educators, and (3) achieves goals one and two in a fiscally responsible manner that can be sustained by the School Department's existing budget.

To achieve these goals, the Committee prepared four groups of proposals that: 

• Simplify and clarify complex contract language to ensure that language is clear and accessible to all. 
• Adds flexibility to the start date of the school year. 
• Move department chairs from Unit A to Unit B to ensure that employees belong to the bargaining unit most closely aligned with roles and responsibilities. 
• Provide greater clarity on and better parameters around the use of paid time off to ensure continuity of learning for students. 
• Change the elementary report card and conference structure to ensure that parents and caregivers have more direct time with educators to discuss their child/children. 

The DEA also formulated and presented approximately forty proposals that:

• Aim to reduce the number of  after school meetings educators must attend,
• Add early release days to the school year calendar,
• Seek to improve facilities and conditions for teaching and learning,
• Maintain class sizes and caseloads that support student learning,
• Increase paid time off and parental leave benefits,
• Restore positions that have been cut to balance the budget,
• Articulate direct wage adjustments through cost of living adjustments, additions to longevity stipends, and increases to specific steps on the salary schedule. 

The focus of the process ahead will work towards finding mutual agreements on working conditions and wages for the term of the 2025-2028 contract with the DEA. The next phase of the negotiations process will commence at the January 14th meeting of the negotiations teams.

Secretary/Clerical Unit 2024 - 2027 Contract Negotiation Update

The School Committee negotiated an updated collective bargaining agreement with its Secretary/Clerical unit over the course of the fall and early winter 2024. The contract was ratified by the unit and the School Committee in late November and early December 2024. 

The 2024-2027 collective bargaining agreement for secretaries and clerks reflects updates that: 

• Makes the contract easier to read and understand. 
• Provides parental leave benefits consistent with other employee unions. 
• Will assist in bringing greater clarity to the roles, responsibilities, and job descriptions of unit members. 
• Restructures wage scales for unit members to  maintain competitive compensation and encourage longevity and stability in the District’s workforce. 
• Provides a 2.5% cost of living adjustment (COLA) over each year of the term of the contract. 

Read Full 2024-2027 Secretary/Clerical MOA

Custodial/Maintenance 2024 - 2027 Contract Negotiation Update

The School Committee negotiated an updated collective bargaining agreement with its custodial/maintenance unit over the course of the fall and early winter 2024. The contract was ratified by the unit and the School Committee in late November and early December 2024. 

The 2024-2027 collective bargaining agreement for custodial and maintenance personnel reflects updates that: 

• Makes the contract easier to read and understand. 
• Provides parental leave benefits consistent with other employee unions. 
• Provides a significant market adjustment to compensation for licensed trades employees in the maintenance department. 
• Restructures wage scales for custodial employees to maintain competitive salaries, encourage longevity, and maintain stability in the District’s workforce. 
• Provides a 2.5% cost of living adjustment (COLA) to all wages in years two and three of the contract. 

Read Full 2024-2027 Custodial/Maintenance MOA

In a school wage budget, steps and lanes are a system for compensating teachers based on their years of experience and educational attainment. 

When a teacher is hired, compensation is based on the number of years of teaching experience, “the step,” as well as the level of college or post-college training achieved, “the lane”.

Steps

The number of years a teacher has been teaching. Teachers receive a negotiated step increase to their salary each year. Once teachers reach the Top Step, a longevity stipend may be negotiated to provide annual salary increases.

Lanes

The level of education a teacher has achieved. Teachers can move to higher lanes by earning additional education credits and degrees.

"COLA" in salary stands for "Cost of Living Adjustment," which means an increase in an employee's pay designed to offset the rising cost of goods and services due to inflation, essentially allowing them to maintain their purchasing power even as prices increase in the market; it's a common factor considered when adjusting salaries.

Dedham Education Association, the collective bargaining organization - union - that represents the District’s educators and staff members in establishing agreed upon working conditions and compensation for unit members.

The School Committee is represented by designated members of the Dedham School Committee. This group of School Committee members is referred to as the “Negotiations Subcommittee.” Members of the Dedham Public School executive leadership team (Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents, Human Resources Administrator) support the Negotiations Subcommittee in developing proposals for negotiations and reviewing proposals made during negotiation meetings.