School Committee and Weston Education Association Reach Tentative Agreement

/in /by

May 31, 2023

School Committee and Weston Education Association
Reach Tentative Agreement on Four-Year Contract

Dear Weston School Community:

Earlier today the Weston School Committee and the Weston Education Association (WEA), the labor union that represents educators in the Weston Public Schools, reached a tentative agreement on a successor contract running through the end of the 2025-2026 school year.

As the culmination of more than a year of negotiations between the School Committee and the WEA, the tentative agreement includes:

  • Protected elementary prep time: Four hours per week of scheduled preparation time for elementary classroom teachers, with reasonable efforts to provide 30 minutes per day for all elementary teachers

  • Sick leave for family members: Five days of paid leave to care for sick family and household members

  • Greater flexibility: Greater flexibility on when WEA members begin and end their work days on campus

  • Fewer administratively led meetings

  • Fair compensation

  • More flexibility on teacher coverage: A broader range of release time for department heads at Weston High School, allowing for more flexibility in temporarily filling a teacher vacancy

  • Improvements to high school advisory: The launch of a cooperative effort to plan for advisory periods in Weston High School, with implementation of these periods to begin during the 2024-2025 school year

  • Improvements to student clubs: The launch of a cooperative effort to improve the structure, organization and availability of clubs

  • The pilot of a new teacher evaluation program

Additional details about the tentative agreement will be shared with WEA members at an upcoming meeting. Pending the union’s ratification, the School Committee will hold a ratification vote at an upcoming meeting.

“On behalf of the Weston School Committee, I want to say that this lengthy and thorough process resulted in a tentative agreement that is fair to all stakeholders: teachers, students, parents, and the broader Weston community,” said School Committee Chair Ken Newberg. “It will enable us to refocus our efforts on delivering the best possible education for all of Weston’s 2,000 students. I want to thank the negotiations teams on both sides for their diligence, advocacy and flexibility in reaching consensus.”

“The WEA is very happy to have reached this agreement and to our continued work with Weston students, families, and leadership,” said WEA President Ed McLoughlin. “We are excited to end the school year on a positive note and come together to celebrate Weston’s unique end-of-the-year traditions.”