Responses to Public Input

At our April 21st meeting, a student from Newfield High School spoke of his support for teachers and urged the Board of Education to come to a speedy settlement of the MCTA contract.  He mentioned that the Administrators had entered into a five year agreement.  He also spoke about the economic challenges that our teachers are experiencing.
 
We agree with the student:  our teachers are important.  They deserve a fair contract.  Equally true is that every staff member in Middle Country is important and every union deserves a fair contract, one that can be financially sustained by a hard-working community that is facing even more economic challenges than are our teachers.  Forty-six percent of our students reside in homes that qualify for governmental support.  A beginning teacher in Middle Country earns more than the household income of these families.
 
Not only did the administrators settle a contract this year, but so did monitors, teaching assistants, operations, maintenance, and heads and chiefs. In every contract where healthcare is offered in retirement, retirees who choose a family health plan, contribute to the cost of the plan.  They all recognized that a fair contract is one that can be financially sustained.
 
As we’ve mentioned in prior responses, the MCTA is the only union where every member receives 100% fully funded family health care in retirement.   Every other district employee who chooses family health care in retirement, contributes towards its cost.  We hope through respectful negotiations, which are now being assisted by a mediator, a fair agreement can be reached.  As a community member wrote recently, we can appreciate and value our teachers and still be fiscally responsible.

Public Input Video on YouTube - Board of Education Response Video on YouTube - Link to Meeting Minutes

At our March 25th meeting, a community resident whose mother had been a school board trustee several decades ago, spoke in support of a teachers’ contract that is fair to both the MCTA and to the community.  We couldn’t agree more.  In fact, contracts that are fair to our employees and can be sustained by our community have been the focus of all negotiations with all unions.  For example, every employee, other than our teachers, when retired, agreed to contribute to family medical, showing their willingness to help control costs so that benefits can be continued. We are hopeful that the impasse process, which began yesterday, will bring about meaningful conversations, resulting in a settlement that is respectful of our teachers and of our community.

Public Input Video on YouTube - Board of Education Response Video on YouTube - Link to Meeting Minutes

At our March 11th Board of Education meeting, we had six residents provide public comment.
 
Three speakers, an alum and two parents of children in our district spoke of the importance of our teachers and the need to have a settled contract in place.  
 
As we said in prior responses, we agree: our teachers are important.  We respect and value their work.  
 
We also respect and value our community; we need to have in place a collective bargaining agreement that can be sustained. We are committed to maintaining competitive benefits, such as family healthcare in retirement.  Middle Country cannot afford to continue 100% funding of family healthcare in retirement for MCTA members, a benefit that only a couple of districts on Long Island continue to offer.  In Middle Country, every other employee contributes to their family healthcare in retirement.  In fact, what we are hearing from many community residents is that they, too, contribute to their family healthcare in retirement and were surprised to hear that our teachers do not. 
 
A speaker mentioned that many of our teachers did not receive a raise this year because they are working under last year’s contract.  Teachers with 21 years or less experience did receive on average a 4% salary increase.  Teachers with more than 21 years of experience did not.  A settled contract will bring a salary increase to them.  Middle Country has a highly competitive salary schedule.  We have very few teachers leave for teaching positions in other districts because of salary; our teacher retention rate is high.  
 
We are hopeful that a mediator, who looks at teacher contracts in other districts, contracts of our own employee units, and at our financial standing, will guide us in respectful, meaningful conversations that lead to a settled contract.  We know that negotiation is a process; we also know that we are, and have been, ready to have meaningful conversations.
 
The fourth speaker represented a foundation that was created to support Middle Country families in need.  She also spoke of the importance of our teachers.  This speaker reinforced what we have been saying:  we - the MCTA and Middle Country, must work towards a settlement that continues instructional programs and can be financially sustained by a hardworking community, a community in which 46% of our students’ families are eligible for governmental support.
 
The fifth speaker was concerned that if his children declined to utilize finger scanning for meals, they would not receive free breakfast or lunch.  He has been assured that that is not the case; there is no consequence attached to a declination.  The final speaker was concerned about the appropriateness of remote instruction for early elementary school children.  We do hope that we don’t have to turn to remote instruction because of snow days, but that may be a decision that has to be made in the future - hopefully, not this year, if we fall under the required number of school days.

Public Input Video on YouTube - Board of Education Response Video on YouTube - Link to Meeting Minutes

Three speakers addressed the Board of Education at the January 21st meeting, the President of the Teacher Aides Unit, a community resident, and the co-president of the MCTA and a teacher. The President of the Teacher Aides Unit spoke of the importance of aide training.  We have been working together and with BOCES to have training in place prior to the start of the school year, as well as during the year. Two speakers, one a community resident and the other, a co-president of the MCTA and a teacher, spoke about the importance of continuing negotiations with our teachers.  They expressed dismay that impasse was being declared. We agree with the speakers; it is important to have respectful negotiations, open conversations, that balance the needs of our community with those of our teachers. The most recent proposal that we received was costly, with no real recognition of the fiscal impact. For example, retiree healthcare costs limit the district’s ability to fund programs for students.  Every employee of our district contributes to their family healthcare plan when retired, except for our teachers.  The current cost of the family insurance plan in retirement is $43,965. Retired teachers receive this full benefit without any contribution.  In negotiations, it became clear that we are too far apart on phasing in any meaningful contributions towards retiree healthcare costs.  It is important to Middle Country, as it is important to our teachers, that we have a settled contract.  Impasse means that a neutral party, a mediator, comes in, looks at our district’s financial health, our settled contracts, and contracts of neighboring districts.  The mediator studies both proposals and then – with an objective voice, works at helping both groups come to a fair agreement.  We believe the process will move our conversations forward; we never delayed the process. Also, important to recognize is that our teachers are not without a contract.  They are currently receiving all their benefits. Their health care benefits in retirement, for example, are fully funded by Middle Country. Teachers who are on step, which means teachers with 21 or fewer years of experience, still received a raise on average 4%.  Teachers with more than 21 years of service, under the current contract, did not receive a raise this year.  A fair contract would, of course, provide them with a reasonable salary increase. The pace of negotiations is really up to the MCTA.  A fair agreement is one that can be financially sustained, one that allows student programs and resources to remain whole. We hope that the MCTA is willing to come to the table with the same goals in mind.  When they do, we will be ready.

Public Input Video on YouTube - Board of Education Response Video on YouTube - Link to Meeting Minutes

The following response made by Mrs. Dawn Sharrock to Public Input from the December 17, 2026 Regular Board Meeting.  A parent spoke about the need for staff stability and continuity in special education classes, and we agree fully.  We continue, as do all other districts in our region, to recruit qualified professionals to support our children.  Professional development is important.  We are planning, for example, with input from our teacher aides, workshops that will be in place before students start the 2026/27 school year.  We thank the parent for her suggestions.  Teaching assistants play a very important role in educating our students and we thank the teaching assistant, who is also a community resident, for her support and service.  We understand the tight economic situations, the impact of everyday costs, on both our staff and our community.   We stay committed to a careful, thoughtful and respectful negotiation process. 

Public Input Video on YouTube - Board of Education Response Video on YouTube - Link to Meeting Minutes

Mrs. Dawn Sharrock responded to public input from the November 12, 2025 Regular Board meeting with the following statement: Thank you to the four educators who are also community residents and to the teachers and teaching assistants’ union president who spoke at our last meeting about the importance of respectful, genuine and timely negotiations. We could not agree more with the message that these individuals repeated; it is what we have also been saying since spring of last school year.  The speakers who are community residents spoke about their pride in Middle Country, about their support - and the support of so many of our residents, for the schools and the work that is done to prepare our students - who are the heart of our district, to be successful learners.  We have a great responsibility to keep programs whole for our students, to provide them with the resources they need to be successful. We also have a responsibility to our community to be mindful of economic challenges and circumstances that so many families are experiencing.  Our community, as one speaker mentioned, is far from wealthy. The combined wealth ratio of our district is the eighth lowest in all of Suffolk County. More than 46% of our students qualify for governmental support due to income levels. Their families are food and heat insecure. They worry about day-to-day survival; they worry about providing for their children. The majority of our families, if they do not work in the public sector, struggle to pay for health insurance, and premiums will be rising. They worry about retirement; they worry about healthcare in retirement. It is important to be mindful and respectful of our community’s ability to financially support public education. Our teachers, including the 14% or so who reside in our district, earn - on the average, $129,000, a year not including any extra work outside of the day. The median teacher salary in our district, which means that half of our teachers earn that or more, is about $137,000, the seventh highest on Long Island. Unless teachers have declined health insurance because they are covered elsewhere, they receive an additional benefit. An individual healthcare plan is worth about $14,000 and a family plan is worth about $33,000, after their 19% contribution. If teachers declined healthcare this school year, they received a payment of $3,500. As of now, when teachers retire when they are first eligible to do so, 100% of their healthcare is paid for by the District… an individual plan is $17,757 and a family is $40,413 - an annual benefit. Very few districts offer that retirement benefit. The data show that a one income teacher household is financially healthier than the households of 46% of Middle Country students.  Negotiations are difficult, but they need not be adversarial. In order to ensure a respectful, thoughtful process, all proposals need to be carefully researched, which takes time. We have given the union time to analyze our proposals, which we worked on carefully; we offered them the same respectful consideration. Our calendar evidences the many hours put into the proposals, into researching the cost impact of the many proposals given to us, and to the sessions. We continue to be committed to a genuine, respectful process that is respectful to our community and to our staff. Our students - who are the priority, deserve nothing less.

Public Input Video on YouTube - Board of Education Response Video on YouTube - Link to Meeting Minutes

Mrs. Sharrock responded to the public input from the October 8, 2025 Regular BOE meeting, where the MCTA Union President addressed the board, with the following:  There is not one, not one member of this board that does not respect, appreciate or value our teachers, or any staff member for that matter. We have a responsibility to be fiscally responsible to the residents who have elected us. It’s a delicate balance because we are mindful of the value of all of our employees and we try our hardest to achieve the best outcome for all involved.  We have and will continue to be committed to negotiating in a positive and timely manner. We spend countless hours in meaningful, and at times, spirited discussions because we take our task of negotiating seriously. It isn’t nor should it be personal. At the end of the day, we are all here for the same reason, the students, who have the most to lose should we not be able to work together.

Public Input Video on YouTube - Board of Education Response Video on YouTube - Link to Meeting Minutes