Waltham School Secretaries Press Committee for Fair Contract After 351 Days Without One

WALTHAM — June 17, 2026 — Waltham school secretaries and administrators confront School Committee over expired contracts and wage erosion. The Waltham School Secretaries Association, without a successor contract since July 1, 2025 — 351 days before Tuesday's meeting — sent multiple members to address the School Committee at its June 17 regular meeting, joined by the president of the Waltham School Administrators Association and several parent supporters. The WSSA president, a nearly 15-year city employee, told the committee that a proposed 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment leaves a mid-career step-four employee with a net annual gain of $19.12 after a $672.88 Tufts insurance premium increase and a mandatory $520 over-contribution consume the raise, and that wage compression has left a six-year veteran earning the same base pay as a 2024 new hire. Derek Vandergrift, director of history and social studies and president of the Waltham School Administrators Association — whose unit is also without a contract — presented a signed unit petition asking the committee for "a fair and timely conclusion" to negotiations, and stated his association "stands with the secretaries, the MIS, the trades, the food service, and the custodial units who also do not have contracts." The committee, prohibited from negotiating in public session, took no action on contract matters. In other business, the committee unanimously approved out-of-state travel for 53 Waltham High School orchestra students to Orlando, Florida, during April vacation 2027 to record a film score and perform at a theme park.