RSU 21 teachers obtain new contract after months of negotiations

KENNEBUNK, Maine — RSU 21 teachers finally have a new contract.

At the start of their meeting Monday, school board members voted to ratify a new three-year contract with the Kennebunk Arundel Kennebunkport Educators’ Association, ending months of negotiations.

Teachers in the district have been working without a new contract since their previous one expired at the end of August. Salaries and the structure of teacher prep time were among the outstanding issues the school board and union needed time to resolve.

President Lesley Stoeffler announced the good news moments after the end of an executive session of the board of directors, during which employment contracts and proposals were discussed.

“We are grateful that all parties were able to come together and find common ground to ratify this new contract,” Stoeffler said in a statement released by Matthew Shinberg, district communications specialist.

Stoeffler acknowledged that negotiations “took longer than anyone would have liked,” but expressed confidence in the new contract.

“We believe this contract provides a fair framework that will help us retain exceptional teachers and maintain the high-quality education our community expects,” Stoeffler added. “We look forward to turning the page and focusing on what matters most: the success of our students. »

More: Former RSU 21 school board member Kirstin Shapiro cites safety concerns in resignation letter

Details of the new contract, which runs from 2024 to 2027, were not immediately available.

Jennifer Swan, the president of the teachers union, could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

The ratification vote was not unanimous. School board member Gayle Asmussen Spofford offered the lone dissenting vote.

Although Spofford did not provide details on her dissenting vote, she noted that team members who began contract negotiations in 2023 had “critical, really important items” they wanted included to “continue the work of the previous contract”.

“I cannot in good conscience vote for this contract, so my vote is no,” Spofford said.

The agreement ends nearly a year of negotiations during which tensions began to escalate and spill over into the public, as teachers and school board members expressed frustration over the extension of negotiations. At one point, after the previous contract expired, negotiators turned to a mediator in hopes of making progress.

The lengthy process ended the service of two school board members.

In May, then-president Erin Nadeau resigned from the board after a remark she made about local teachers on social media drew offense through her name-calling and what seemed to many as a comment comparing educators to the Ku Klux Klan.

In November, Kirstin Shapiro resigned from the board a week after colleagues blasted her for violating policies when she made harsh remarks during a September meeting. At that meeting, Shapiro, who had been the school board’s lead negotiator in contract negotiations, accused local educators of harassing his family. Despite his resignation and due to a Charter rule, Shapiro faces a recall election in Arundel on December 17.

Shapiro’s accusation led the teachers union to file a complaint against the school board with the Maine Labor Relations Board.

In the end, however, there was applause as members of the public and the school board applauded after the vote to ratify a new agreement.

Stoeffler, who rose from her seat and applauded the ratification, expressed her hopes for the district’s future now that a source of tension had been lifted in the RSU 21 communities of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel.

“We’re so excited to get everything back to where it should be,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: RSU 21 school board ratifies new three-year contract with teachers