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The Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee voted unanimously to ratify three tentative contract agreements on Monday, January 5. The agreements cover the Sudbury Educational Association (SEA), the Educational Support Professional Association of Sudbury (ESPAS) and the Sudbury Educational Association of Custodial Employees.
The union is expected to vote on the tentative agreements in the coming days according to comments made by SPS Chair Karyn Jones. The district will also issue a press release with further details pending the outcome of those votes. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed during the public session on Monday.
If the union votes to accept the agreement this week, the negotiation process will conclude a bit faster than the last round of contract negotiations in 2021/2022. Notably, Town Manager Andy Sheehan was appointed to the committee’s negotiations subcommittee in December. He will continue on that committee, according to Chair Jones, to support efforts to reach an agreement with the nurses union.
Contract agreements will bring greater clarity to the SPS budget for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27). After opening budget season with a surprise forecast of a $1.6M deficit, the committee still has not voted on a budget to send to Town Meeting in May. In a December meeting with Town Manager Andy Sheehan, the district asked for and received an additional few weeks to keep developing a budget. As of their last committee budget discussion, the SPS administration was advocating to cut the Summer Math Intervention and Literacy Engagement (SMILE) program to get closer to a balanced budget, but that wouldn’t close the gap entirely.
Other options may include tapping Circuit Breaker special education funds for the operating budget, which is generally considered to be a risky use of one-time money, or working with the Town administration to see if they can drum up a bit more money for SPS. Any increase from the Town would be in addition to historically strong budget guidance from the Town Manager. While settled contracts may bring clarity to the budget for FY27, it remains to be seen if the terms will add or relieve pressure, as the initial budget forecast included estimates for union contracts.
