Andover elementary teachers say they work up to 30 minutes past their contractual day each afternoon supervising student dismissal. They want the School Committee to resolve the dispute before an arbitration hearing.
Five educators addressed the committee at its Thursday, Oct. 15 meeting, presenting a petition that speakers said drew more than 300 signatures from Andover Education Association members, Andover News reported. The union and district are scheduled to take the dispute to arbitration, according to an AEA news release.
Teachers told the committee their contractual workday ends at 3:30 p.m., the same time students begin leaving classrooms. Supervising bus loading, parent pickups and walkers can keep them at school until 3:45 or even 4 p.m., they said.
"Elementary dismissal is choreographed chaos with many, many moving parts," said Melissa Chiozzi, a Bancroft Elementary kindergarten teacher and union building representative. She said nine educators at Bancroft have dismissal duties each day and finish no earlier than 3:45 p.m. Using the shorter 15-minute estimate, Chiozzi said those assignments amount to roughly 11 collective hours of unpaid work each week at Bancroft alone.
Chiozzi also described a colleague who pays for after-school care for her own children because dismissal duty prevents her from reliably arriving home to meet their bus.
High Plain Elementary second-grade teacher Shanna Beal told the committee bus duty kept her at school until 3:50 p.m. Tuesday and 3:45 p.m. Wednesday. She asked the district to begin dismissal five to eight minutes earlier. Beal also pointed to a bus driver shortage, saying the problem should not fall on teachers.
Superintendent Keith Taverna acknowledged transportation problems earlier in the meeting, citing driver absences and unfilled routes. He said contractor NRT had six prospective drivers who could begin working within seven to 10 days.
AEA President Elizabeth Tyrell estimated the disputed work represents at least $775,000 annually in uncompensated labor. At the Oct. 15 meeting, she called it "wage theft." A union news release put the figure at upward of $900,000. The release did not provide a detailed calculation or explain the difference between the two estimates.
Tyrell urged the committee to reach an agreement before arbitration and avoid further legal expenses. The union said in a Patch report that the dispute had already "led to costly litigation."
School Committee Chair Shauna Murray thanked the educators but declined to discuss the substance of the dispute, citing the pending arbitration.
Arbitration is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27.
