Paraprofessionals Contract Maintains Budget Savings

When Hampton voters take action on a three-year deal for members of the local paraprofessionals union, they won't have to worry whether their "yes" vote will increase their tax bills.

That's because the deal, which was recently unanimously ratified by both the Hampton School Board and the Seacoast Education Support Personnel Association, doesn't negate the "hard work" done by Hampton School District officials to try and save on operating costs, according to Business Administrator Nate Lunney.

Lunney said that's because the three-year deal, which applies to paraprofessionals in SAU 90 only, poses an average cost of $17,000 each year, which he said is a small amount compared to the nearly $450,000 in savings found by the district while preparing its .

Even if voters in March approve the paraprofessionals contract, the teachers contract — which costs $249,323 — and the warrant articles, Lunney said the budget will still be roughly $200,000 less than the current year.

"We want people to think about the articles [which include the contracts] as a bundle," he said. "That was the idea — to find the savings in the budget so we could fund the contracts."

Each year of the three-year SESPA deal calls for a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment, but also freezes step increases and doesn't propose retroactive increases in pay or steps, according to Lunney.

Lunney said the school board was "really eager" to avoid the step system while attempting to transition to a performance-based system, while he said the union wasn't "really in favor" of the latter idea.

The two sides compromised by freezing the steps through 2015, according to Lunney, in addition to agreeing on several other changes that helped clarify contract language, eliminate "inconvenience" as a grievance option, and prepare the district for long-term medical and insurance savings.

One such savings is the transition to higher prescription drug costs for union members. Lunney said other compromises included creating a "bank" for sick time that gives employees the option to share time with paraprofessionals that have expended all their allotted time.

Lunney said these changes don't pose any added costs or burdens to the district, and he said they represent ways that the two sides were able to come together in a short, four-session negotiating window in order to get union members their first contract in years.

One thing that didn't make it into the contract was a clause for binding arbitration, which Lunney said the union proposed. The school board rejected the idea, and both sides agreed to not put it in.

The contract and the rest of the budget will now go to the Hampton Budget Committee at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12, at .

After that, the budget — along with the rest of the Hampton-related budgets — will go before the annual public hearing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at .