School Faculty Show Support For Administrative Assistants

A group of administrative assistants filled the seats at Monday’s school committee meeting as several members of the Malden Public Schools faculty took turns at the podium to speak on behalf of their support staff.

Elaine Nordstrom Peabody, special education coach at the school and head of the Wilson Good Reading program, listed the vital tasks performed by her support staff.

“Administrative assistants are no less dependant on their paycheck than any other employee of the city of Malden and they deserve a respectful and speedy resolution to their contract issues,”  she said.

Others faculty members who spoke in support of Malden Public School’s administrative assistants included Manjula Karamcheti, Director of Guidance Testing and Academic Support, and Dan Keefe, Director of Athletics, Physical Education, and Health.

The current administrative assistant pay scale includes seven steps, which the scale for teachers and other school professionals includes 10-11 steps. The administrative assistants, in a call for equality, would like the opportunity to bargain for those additional steps.

This isn't the first time the SEIU-organized administrative assistants sat in on a School Committee meeting. The workers sat silently during a previous committee meeting in May. The group has filed for arbitration over the contract dispute.

In Other Committee News 

• Superintendent Sidney Smith announced that he is attempting to work out the details on an initiative that could extend the K-8 school day by 15 minutes. The move would bring Malden into compliance with the state's "Time on Learning" requirement. An internal review by Smith found that Malden was coming up short against the hours required per year.
• The budget subcommittee announced that it will not finalize a budget until the state legislature finalizes a state budget, which will provide a better idea of how much aid will be available. Initial numbers from the senate indicate their proposal will largely match the House's version of the budget.
• The school committee will request the transfer of about $490,000 in funds set aside for the school department by the city council.