Weston Finance Committee Debates Public Statement on Teacher Contract Dispute

WESTON — January 12, 2023 — Weston Finance Committee debates entering the teacher contract fight as budget season opens. At the January 12 meeting, Town Manager Leon Gaucher flagged a locked-in $600,000-plus increase in the Middlesex Retirement assessment and outlined expected warrant articles including an $800,000 final phase for the Cherrybrook Culvert project, a $4.25 million water main replacement, and seed funding for the first update to the town's 1965 master plan. The bulk of the evening focused on the Weston Education Association's demand for 17.25 percent in raises over three years, against the School Committee's offer of 5.75 percent — the same rate accepted by five other town unions. Finance Committee Chair Bharath Venkataraman's school subcommittee was directed to draft a one-page letter to the School Committee, with a vote planned for the next meeting; member Jonathan Harris warned that a high teacher settlement, layered on top of rising water rates and recent tax increases, risks failing at Annual Town Meeting, where voter approval of the town budget has dropped to 57 percent.