SAUGUS — After negotiations, the Saugus Educators Association (SEA) and the School Committee landed on a contract, which was voted on at the last Committee meeting.
Three School Committee members voted yes: John Hatch, Ryan Fisher, and Stephanie Mastrocola. Vice Chair Thomas Whittredge voted no, and Chair Vincent Serino abstained.
“First, I’d like to thank Mr. Hatch and Mr. Fisher for all their work on it,” Serino said. “I know it’s not easy, and nothing’s ever perfect. I think this board has a lot of trepidation with the amounts. I think I speak for all of us. We’d like to see more bodies in classrooms.”
Fisher noted that this was the third contract he and Hatch had worked on and added that they worked with SEA, Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), and their attorneys.
“We began this process earlier this year. As you said, it’s a lot of meetings… Most of the meetings are built around establishing trust, establishing guidelines, just having conversations back and forth,” he said.
Fisher said they went into it wanting to keep an eye on the needs of the district, staff, and students to agree on a crafted contract that “all sides could live with.”
“One of the things that I committed to doing when we went into this is: If it was something where I looked at it, I looked at the alternatives, I looked at the numbers, and I looked at the future and realized it was out of the scope of what is reasonable, it wasn’t something I could support,” Fisher said.
He said this contract is something he can support, but it isn’t his dream plan, and it isn’t perfect.
Hatch said, “I share the same sentiments that Mr. Fisher talked about. It’s been a long time spent. It’s a very difficult process. At the end of the day, I really feel confident that the first and foremost thing that we try and do is watch out for the actual student in the classroom.”
He agreed it was not a perfect contract. He thanked the board, Fisher, and Superintendent Michael Hashem for the support, and he also gave thanks to SEA.
“It’s a tough situation. The Town doesn’t have a bottomless pit of money, and the bottom line is what we needed to do is take care of the classroom student, which is going to be difficult going forward,” Hatch said.
Whittredge was not in agreement with the contract, saying he felt differently.
“I believe everybody deserves a raise. I’m a proponent of that, but I don’t think that we can give out more money than we bring in. We don’t generate money here. We’re not a business,” he said.
He continued that every year they spend more than they get, and then they have to lay off people.
“What I do care about is: We had to cut buses in half, and we left people scrambling to get transportation at the last minute… We lost a classroom teacher all through one through five. And that just adds to more kids in each class with less help in each class. It’s not good for education; it’s not good for anybody,” he said.
Whittredge said all the money will go toward the raise, and that this is all before they can handle the other bargaining units or anything else that needs funding.
“We can’t keep having more and more bodies come into the district and less and less help leaving the district. I’m not here speaking against the SEA or the teachers; I’m here speaking out against layoffs,” he said.
Whittredge said they can never get ahead, they’re always behind, and they won’t be able to recover.
“We got a lot of stuff coming up, and we’re just not going to be able to afford it if we keep giving this type of raise,” he said.
Whittredge felt as though they should come back and figure out a better solution.
Though he doesn’t agree with the contract, he emphasized his appreciation for Hatch and Fisher.
Mastrocola said that when she was elected in 2023, she made promises to always be transparent, never vote on something for popularity, and never cow down to what people think she should do.
“I’m happy to say that, in these two years, I’ve kept those promises to not only myself, but to the Saugus community,” she said.
Mastrocola remembered the conversations during Town Meeting with parents talking about the classroom sizes increasing, staffing decreasing, and Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) not being met due to staffing.
“I listened to the president of the student class and the treasurer state that there were not enough teachers to teach their elective courses,” she said. “In 2022, there were 2,436 students. In 2025, we have 2,831 students, an increase of 395. In ’22, there were 657 IEPs, 504s, and disabilities; in 2025, that number has risen to 1,302.”
Mastrocola noted that the message was clear: Staffing is the most critical issue.
“What I was mostly disappointed in was when your union leader stood up in front of all of you and claimed that Saugus has all this extra money and Free Cash… You also stated that the School Committee has three jobs, and one of them is to create a budget. We do not create the budget. We approve or disapprove of it,” she said.
Mastrocola said the Free Cash would be a one-time use and would lead to more layoffs in the following year. She pointed out the cost of the health insurance and how it could go up again. She noted that she understands the frustration as she is in a union as a nurse.
“I cannot sit here and say I’m not extremely concerned about this contract we have come to with the teachers. I actually sit up here with much angst and anxiety as I know what I will vote for tonight will not be a good decision either way,” she said.
Mastrocola said she feels backed against a wall.
Serino said that everything isn’t easy when they get elected, and that when they look at the students, they all say that they need more help.
“It’s never easy, and I appreciate everyone up here, and I appreciate everyone being honest… because this isn’t easy. You can take shots at us on Facebook… but everyone up here will tell you we’re up at 2 o’clock in the morning… We’re wondering how can we make it better? What can we do?” he said.
Serino said he isn’t sure what the future brings and that he’s optimistic, but he “can’t find it.”
SEA President Kevin Fontanella spoke at the end of the meeting, thanking the Committee for approving the contract, and said that creating a sense of trust and building communication is important.
