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The Haverhill School Committee recently reached a tentative agreement with its Education Support Professionals which would give the paraprofessionals a 3% salary increase in the first year with added wage increases over the course of the following two years.
The current starting salary for an ESP is $27,344. The top base salary is $34,464. The new agreement would go into effect July 1. The union planned a ratification vote Monday night, while the School Committee plans one Tuesday night.
Lynn Sullivan, chief negotiator for the Haverhill Education Association’s ESP unit, told WHAV that while the union didn’t get all it wanted, she is satisfied with the agreement and praised the School Committee’s negotiators for listening to their staff.
“Although we didn’t get the market adjustment we believe we deserve, a good faith effort was made by the School Committee to help us get us on the path where we need to be. I hope and I believe the work will continue to help our paras reach the elusive livable wage we’ve been asking for so many years,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan’s comments came last Thursday during public participation before the School Committee. During her comments she encouraged the board to ratify the contract.
The School Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday, June 30, at 6 p.m., in the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. Council Chambers, Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St., Haverhill. School Committee Vice Chair Thomas W. Grannemann told WHAV he is hopeful the contract will be settled then as the current contract expires the same day.
Sullivan said in the second and third year of the contract, those on Step 1 and Step 2 would receive an 2.5% increase on July 1, 2027 and July 1, 2028 and then a 2.5% increase on work day 91 in both years. Those on Step 3 would receive a 3.5% increase on July 1, 2027 and July 1, 2028 with another 3.5% increase on day 91 in both years.
EPSs, along with the teachers, would work 183 days a year, one additional day beginning July 1, 2027.
Sullivan said language has been incorporated in to the contract that makes her members feel respected. The terms of the new agreement also improve job security, she said.
Haverhill’s classroom aides have been lobbying for living wages for more than a decade. Sullivan and her fellow paraprofessionals argue they are paid well under what neighboring and like school districts are paying their ESPs. She added Haverhill members work second jobs and are dependent on foot pantries. Low pay, she said, has prompted a high rate of turnover which in turn requires the district to hire contract ESPs at a much higher hourly rate to fill vacancies.
The district employs 271 ESPs.