Sheffield — Out of frustration and anger over employee salaries, staff members of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District (SBRSD) held a rally outside of the school district offices on Monday, June 9.
The rally was organized by the Southern Berkshire Regional Education Association (SBREA), which represents school district employees.
In a press release sent before the rally, Mount Everett Special Education teacher and SBREA member Roberta Sarnacki writes that the association has been attempting to negotiate “fair contracts for our workers.” “Our efforts have not been successful to date, and our current contracts will expire at the end of this school year,” Sarnacki states. “We are bargaining for a cost-of-living adjustment on wages, adequate preparation time and professional development, and modern family leave policies. Fundamentally, this contract is about the district showing respect for the educators in this district, particularly paraprofessionals and food service staff, whose wages are below other districts in the Berkshires.”
The rally took place right before a school committee meeting that deliberated the contracts.
Mount Everett Middle School Social Studies teacher Andrew Rapport, who is also the president of the Southern Berkshire Regional Education Association, told The Berkshire Edge that the association has been attempting to finalize contracts with the school committee for quite some time. “The school committee members have not been very easy to work with so far as they have been late [with negotiations],” Rapport said. “They have frequently forgotten to give us proposals until the last minute. They are not really working with us to get us the contracts that we believe that we deserve.”
Rapport, who has been teaching at the school district for over 20 years, said that the contracts are negotiated every three years and the current contracts expire by the end of the school year on June 30.
As Rapport explains, employees in the district are grouped into two units: Unit A is the contract that all teachers are grouped into, and Unit D is the contract that all paraprofessionals, administrative assistants, secretaries, and food service personnel are grouped into. “With these contracts, I would like to see that the teachers are being respected and would like to see that the Unit D employees have a wage that they can live on in Berkshire County,” he said. “Frankly, they can’t live on it right now. We have the lowest starting salaries in Berkshire County.”
Rapport said that the school district “is losing teachers and paraprofessionals constantly, and that’s just bad for the kids in the school district.” “All of the contracts compared to other contracts in this area are pretty bad,” he said. “But the worst is Unit D. I don’t know how anyone lives on their salary.”
Of the 154 employees listed, the five highest paid school district employees in fiscal 2025 were:
- Superintendent Beth Regulbuto $201,175;
- Director of Student Services Sandi Hubbard, $130,000;
- Mount Everett Secondary Principal Jesse Carpenter $125,000;
- New Marlborough Central Elementary Principal Charles Miller $123,350; and
- Curriculum and Professional Development Director Julie Dolan, $110,350.
As of fiscal 2025, the lowest paid school district employees were:
- Paraprofessional Katharyn Phillips, $12,398;
- Non-union staff member Cami Lamica, $16,000;
- Secretary Anne Beattie, $19,135;
- Paraprofessional Alissa Kingdon, $22,194; and
- Paraprofessionals Crystal Daley, Molly DiGiovanni, and Maryann Schur, $22,754.
“I would have to say that the way we’ve all been treated has not been respectful,” Rapport said. “Some of our paraprofessionals are working two, or even three jobs just to make ends meet.”
Middle and High School English teacher Victoria Aldam, who has been teaching at SBRSD for seven years and is an alumnus of the school district, said that the district’s employees are “just looking for respect.” “Our employees are a wonderful group of supportive individuals who I am lucky to learn from and teach alongside,” Aldam said. “I think all of these people showing up to the rally is a testament to the community that cares so deeply not just about education, but also the emotional and social interconnectness that this school district has become for every individual. It’s a community that cares and supports one another. To see so many people come out for each other is a beautiful thing.”
Before the rally, Superintendent of Schools Beth Regulbuto emailed the following statement to The Berkshire Edge:
We remain committed to working with the SBREA in good faith to reach an equitable and reasonable agreement that recognizes the valuable contributions of our teachers and staff while also maintaining the financial health and long-term stability of the district.
We are proud to say that we have not had any layoffs due to budget concerns, and as one of the largest employers in the area, we know how important it is to remain fiscally responsible.
We have created a webpage for our community members so they can learn more about the negotiation process and the current SBREA contract. We encourage everyone to visit the page and reach out if they have any questions.
We appreciate the community’s continued support and understanding as we work towards an agreement that serves the best interests of students, staff, and the entire SBRSD community.
After the rally and after the school committee meeting, Rapport wrote to The Berkshire Edge that the association reached a tentative settlement agreement with the school committee over Unit D contracts; however, he wrote that the school committee rejected the association’s proposal for Unit A contracts. “Our members, parents, and community allies are prepared to continue fighting for a fair contract this fall,” he wrote.
Rapport would not provide further details on the tentative agreement for Unit D employees.
