The School Committee met on Monday night to hear public input on the idea of unionizing with the Boxborough school district—presently consisting of one elementary school of approximately 450 students.
In a nutshell, the proposal would envision sharing a superintendent and perhaps up to five other administrative positions, including special education director, in order to realize a cost savings of 1 to 2 percent of the school budget. Harvard has over 1,200 students, Boxborough elementary school has about 450 (their high school is already regionalized with Acton), and yet we would each have three members on a union committee tasked with hiring a new superintendent and negotiating their contract. If the towns disagreed on the decision of whom to hire (or whom to renew or let go in three years), we would be left with a 3-3 tie and the prospect of having to persuade the other members to change their votes.
Additional complications multiply. For example, what if the superintendent for a two-town district asked for a higher salary as compensation for having to appear at double the number of evening meetings (two school committees, two finance committees) and being accountable to two sets of parents? What if our special education director or transportation director asked for a raise to compensate them for taking on additional students? What if our administrative turnover increased given the demands of serving in a two-town district? How quickly would our one percent savings evaporate given these or any number of similar scenarios that are all too easy to imagine?
The majority of residents who spoke on Monday night were not in favor of this proposal. Many of us put a high value on our small, high-quality school district, with its maximum level of accountability. Residents who were not present should make their views known by calling or emailing the members of the School Committee before April 9, when they will vote on whether to explore this option further.
Maria Kaufmann
South Shaker Road
