Why We will be voting NO on the override.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS WAS SUBMITTED BY A RESIDENT — THE HOLLISTON REPORTER TAKES NO POSITION ON THESE ISSUES.
We support Holliston Public Schools- students, educators, and administrators. But: There is little to no data to support the claims that this contract is great for the Town, the district, the educators, and the students. This is strictly an operational override to increase salaries of the largest unit in our Town who appear to make some better salaries than their colleagues in other Town departments. We want to support an override that will help increase the educational opportunities for our students- like adding teacher positions so that more classes/programs can be offered or adding teacher positions to decrease class sizes as one example. Below are the Top 9 reasons why we will be voting NO on September 10th.
- Students: What is best for the students? Is approving an override for teacher salaries in the best interest of the students? What are specific positive outcomes for the students? We’ve heard very little about the positive outcomes for ALL of our students. What is the positive outcome of additional 10/15 minutes of instruction time that has yet to be mapped out. Is it synchronous learning or “flex” time? Does this mean our rankings will go up to the top 20 in the state?
- Supervision during passing time: There is no language in the contract that guarantees educators will be in the hallways. “Teachers will greet students when plausible”, and “will intervene to address inappropriate student behavior during passing time when they deem it necessary” – how will this be enforced? Doesn’t the administration think that having adult supervision in the halls is generally a good thing? Why didn’t they push for stronger language around student safety and student/teacher interactions?
- Lengthening the school day: While this additional time will necessarily look different at each of the schools, the language is left sufficiently vague that there is, in fact, no guarantee that this time will be used to instruct students in academic subjects. Concerns about how a longer (on top of later) school day for HHS students will impact after school jobs, activities, athletics, etc.
- Teacher compensation: How do we determine if Holliston teachers are paid fairly (“fairly” being subjective)? The Town Administrator, Finance Committee, and School Committee all began the FY 2025 budget planning season with strong concern that “it’s a difficult budget season and tough decisions will need to be made”. Why would the School Committee agree to a contract that puts them well over their budget? Are there any discussions at the Town level about negotiating health insurance contracts to get lower premiums or adjusting employee share of insurance premiums? If the Town were to absorb a higher percentage (to match other towns), this would effectively put money in teachers’ pockets. That is one of the sticking points which some say makes Holliston’s compensation less competitive even if the total salaries are higher than some towns.
- Strategies and tactics: Concern about how the HFT leadership has “missed” deadlines to their own advantage. And how the HFT leadership is encouraging a divisive atmosphere by pitting families who can afford the override and want it for their schoolchildren’s teachers’ morale against taxpayers who will see no benefit from this contract. Campaign messages like “we love our schools therefore we support the override” put many people in an uncomfortable situation. One can love the schools and not support this override and should be able to say so without backlash.
- Additional buses: Assumptions about traffic congestion reduction – where has the data come from? Condensing the runs may cause more pinch points albeit at fewer time blocks during the day. This is really misleading for voters who would be impacted by having students on 2 bus runs instead of 3. Is this the most critical issue our schools are facing?
- Bell schedule change: How long will this process take? Will teachers be looking for additional compensation or will the district need to increase their staffing levels to accommodate more classes at HHS? By giving 4% in the first year of the contract, this will compound over the next 3 years and mean that there will be less and less money for other changes (staffing or programmatic).
- Real Estate: Some real estate professionals claim that property value increases because of a strong school district. That may be true in other parts of the country where education is not ranked high. Massachusetts is consistently ranked #1 for education and our property values across the state are high because of it. Holliston Public Schools rankings have consistently declined over the past 10 years, yet our property values have not dropped.
- Affordability and Sustainability: This is not the only override that we will likely see for the Town in the near future. The Town is looking into a new DPW Facility and the HSC has been applying to the Massachusetts School Board Authority to get invited into the program for a possible High School building project. Will we be taxing our residents out of town?
Holliston Residents for Stronger Educational Outcomes
Please vote NO
Send HFT and HSC back to the negotiating table for a contract that
guarantees RESULTS for improved education
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Wow, there’s a lot going on here. I just wanna address the one point for now about questions asked and answered. The School Committee and the override advocacy group, Yes for Holliston, have made every effort to answer every question as fully as we can. The problem is, we don’t know all of the answers yet. Since the contract was just agreed to in May, right before school got out, there was no time to engage with teachers and parents and the broader school community about specifically what the start time changes might look like and specifically how we might use the additional instructional time. I don’t think it would’ve made sense to try to rush these things and come up with a plan for both in the last couple of weeks of school, nor do I think it would’ve really been logistically possible. I realize that some people are very uncomfortable with the unknowns, but all the volunteers and all of the educators involved are doing the best that they can. If people don’t want to accept that, I don’t know what else to say. I applaud down Dan Alfred, the chair of the School Committee, for actually trying to solve the school start times dilemma. I supported the changes years ago and truly thought the complaints would subside, but they haven’t. People have not gotten used to it, as we predicted. I don’t want to be the sort of person who doesn’t try to solve problems because they’re difficult. I want to hang out with the people who aren’t afraid to do the hard work that it takes to solve challenges. But, personally, my reason for supporting the override is because I think teachers need a strong show support. I think they have felt underappreciated for years and issues with morale showcase that. The main reason I’m voting YES is because I think that community support will translate into overall better morale, which will mean an overall healthier school district.
I should have added that there’s really no scenario where the School Committee would’ve negotiated all the details of changes to block scheduling and start times as part of the contract. The contract includes agreement to discuss potential changes, but you wouldn’t decide such things with only input from the school committee and the teachers union. Start times and major schedule changes should always be reviewed with input from parents, teachers, and any other community members that want to weigh in. I hear that people want all the details, but not everything can be decided at the bargaining table. Some decisions need to be made with feedback from the broader community. So, if the parties go back to the bargaining table, we wouldn’t expect to see details about any changes to start times or block scheduling.
I have several concerns about the items you mention above, specifically as it relates to the block schedule at HHS. In reading the MOA, it states that the parties agree to form a subcommittee made up of 4 HFT members and 4 HSC members to engage in discussions about potential bell schedule changes. It does not include any language or provision to include “parents, teachers, and any other community members that want to weigh in”. Nor does it include language or provision to include the Superintendent or the school principals or any other administrators who one would think would be important to that process. Additionally, and according to the MOA, all meetings, except two, are to be held during the school day which means that teachers will have to be pulled from their classes and HSC members will have to use personal time during a work day to engage in the discussions. There is also no guarantee that the HFT membership would agree to whatever changes would be worked out. So while I am definitely in favor or moving away from the antiquated block schedule at HHS, I believe the Superintendent can engage in these discussions without it needing to be written into the contract. But, if it does remain in the contract, I think the provisions should be strengthened so teachers would not have to leave their classes and there would be more time to research best practices and engage multiple parties rather than rushing to a decision by January 1, 2025. I also remain concerned that should HPS decide to move away from the block schedule at the high school (as I certainly hope they do), it will likely cost the Town more money and strain the school budget which, through this limited override, will not have enough room to absorb any such changes.
Regarding the start time/bus question: rather than being able to present actual data (specific start times, actual costs of bus changes, changes to ridership – ie, possible school bus run combinations) prior to asking the residents to vote to fund the changes, all the HSC is able to provide is a suggestion of what might happen in the future without giving any specifics. As someone who reads the fine print before I sign a contract, I feel like there is significant information missing here.
I understand that you do not have all the answers, and that this all happened in a rushed manner because the contract was not agreed to in time for the May Town Meeting, and folks want this to be settled before the state’s tax deadline, and all of this is happening during the summertime when many people are away. But please understand that this is exactly why some people feel uncomfortable about being asked to vote on this override. Voters like me just want more information before casting their votes.
Not clear why Karla Alfred states we risk a weaker contract hopefully we would have a stronger contract if we went back to the drawing board, a contract that clearly defines:
1.who will enforce supervision at interchange of classes?
2. How the extra 15 minutes will be used?
3. What students will be together on buses?
4. How the new bus schedule will be funded, the exact cost of each bus run?
Although Mary Greendale in her article stated that Holliston High rated “best in the state” fortunately she recently listed her source niche.com which had a heading “Best Public High Schools in Massachusetts” and Holliston was rated 48/363 hardly indicating Holliston was “best in the state” the same survey listed:
Academics A. Administration C
Teachers. A- Diversity. B-
Clubs & Activities B. Sports. A
Resources & Facilities C +
College Prep. B+
Do not understand with these ratings Holliston High School received an overall rating of A.
But the important question is while administration receives a C rating who is going
to enforce the “plausible” language in the contract?
I asked questions of the school committee chair in comments in Holliston Reporter recently and I never saw any answers to those questions. So we have the same problem; questions asked of the school committee chair and they remain unanswered. Those questions should be answered here were they were asked so all residents can read the response. Factual answers.00
I am in favor of improving education for all Holliston students and the working environment for all teachers but am not sure this contract is a step in that direction.
Thank you Lisa Kocian for stating”The problem is, we don’t know all of the answers yet.”
“…no time to engage in teachers about specifically start changes” or
“ how we might use the additional instructional time”
This are items that should have been resolved before the teachers contract was approved contingent on the the approval of the override.
The contract should have been clear and teachers engaged in their own contract.
Morale depends a great deal on the working environment more money does not solve the environment.
Suggesting that HPS will lose teachers if this override fails is wrong. The School Committee should be working with administrators to find many ways to hire and retain good teachers, beyond pay alone. Rather than generate fear that a favorite teacher might leave the district over voter concerns about tax increases, share all the efforts to retain good teachers. So families can rest assured that those in charge of our children’s education have a firm grasp on the direction the schools are going – from all directions. And on that point, we have heard in recent years that the high school needs big money to bring it up to the standards of 21st century learning and improve the quality of education in Holliston well beyond a 3-year contract cycle. I’ll answer that call for an override any day. I’m a NO on this one – as negotiated, presented, explained, and justified by the SC today.
Very Concerned Citizen – Our family will be absolutely voting NO on this. Even without kids in the Holliston School system, we left several years ago for another district but we will not be supporting this to raise our taxes any higher than they already are.
Everything about this is concerning and no, we didn’t go to any of the meetings because there was no need. All of the information should be clearly stated and made public to the community. One should not have to go to a “coffee meeting” to find out what is going on.
Too many unanswered questions that haven’t been made public to everyone – not just those that attend the meetings. Made PUBLIC to everyone.
> Comparison of teachers salaries that they claim they are underpaid?
> If they will have an extra 15 minutes a day, what will they be doing? If I’m paying for it what am I paying for?
> More detailed information on the buses? run times? how many new buses, how much will they cost? when will they be purchased, all at once, over time?
> where are the traffic studies? Bus route studies? are they on the town website? who did them? did we send out a bid for the company that did them and where did that money come from?
> The Block Schedule – seems there is an issue. Why isn’t this being addressed by the Superintendent and the Principal? Why do I have to pay for this to be fixed? This seems like basic administration not something taxpayers should be paying for.
Too many questions unanswered. It’s a Hard NO for this family.
I would love to hear how the SC/ HFT/ Admin plan on retaining our talent at the high school level when the building is falling apart around them daily? While I appreciate the need to bring teacher salaries to a competitive level I would argue the work environment is equally as Important (maybe more so than a slight cola increase) when deciding one’s career. I would prefer to see an override for the implementation of a new high school which would attract new talent and help with retention. Let’s face it….an override for a new school is not far behind.
Holliston teachers make the SAME as similarly ranked schools. Not less. They are NOT underpaid.
If they want higher pay, then they need to teach better so our students perform better and our rankings go up.
Instead our rankings have been on a steady decline for the past 10 years. We were once top 20. Now barely top 75.
Does your boss give you a pay raise for doing a bad job?!?
Do not reward underperformance. Is this the example we want to set for our children?
We won’t let the Holliston Teachers Union bully us tax payers!
It’s been hard to sell out homes because of bad school rankings.
This override is NOT an investment. It’s a reward to the teachers for a bad job. It’s giving the playground bully (HFT leader) your milk money.
Vote NO on the override Sep 10