Amesbury City Council approves money for teachers contracts

AMESBURY — Teachers contracts will be honored after the City Council agreed Tuesday to transfer $310,396 from the city’s free cash account to cover the unbudgeted costs.

A contract with the American Federation of Teachers Amesbury had not been settled when the city’s fiscal 2024 budget was approved in June. The local union spent months seeking ratification to secure more competitive pay for teachers. Union members held rallies, picketed outside meetings, and were very vocal during public comment periods at meetings.

Negotiations ended in late June after the budget was approved, with the two sides coming to an undisclosed agreement after 10 hours of back-and-forth discussions.

City Councilor Steve Stanganelli noted that a Budget and Finance Subcommittee meeting on the matter March 19 was very brief and resulted in a 3-0 positive recommendation.

Questions arose when Councilor Nick Wheeler pointed out discrepancies in the numbers presented to the council.

“I was able to go through the schools budget and just see some of the lines that this stuff will be applying to,” he said, “and one of the things that jumped out to me is that a number of the schools, the salary lines are actually under budget for the year significantly.”

Superintendent Elizabeth McAndrews confirmed that the discrepancy was a result of a lag in getting up-to-date data to the city.

“We have had some resignations in the process of rehiring,” she said. “So there are some gaps, especially paraprofessional salaries.”

The motion was approved 7-0, with Wheeler abstaining from the vote due to his questions about the lag in data.

“I did ask if these had been vetted and I trust the superintendent, clearly the entire council does, but I didn’t have enough information to make an actual decision so I decided to abstain,” he said.

At the beginning of its meeting, the council handled 16 appointments and reappointments to city positions, including the appointment of James Chapman to a three-year term on the Council on Aging board of directors.

“I’ve been an Amesbury resident since 1972,” Chapman said. “I’ve been involved in community affairs more often than not during that time. I was a member of the Conservation Commission for several years, a decade or 15 years ago.”

Chapman said he has been involved at the Amesbury Senior Center in recent years and wants to do more.

“I’m looking for an opportunity to serve,” he said.

Wheeler joked that former mayor and transportation center namesake Nick Costello twisted Chapman’s arm, to which Chapman laughingly agreed.

“When you are a good friend of Nick, you don’t say no to him,” Chapman said.

Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.