Belmont School Committee Chair Says Contract Talks Stuck on Money After a Year

BELMONT — November 6, 2025 — Belmont School Committee Chair Meg Moriarty says contract talks with teachers union remain deadlocked on salary after more than a year of bargaining. Appearing on the public-access program "Belmont Journal: Chat with the Chair" on November 6, 2025, Moriarty said the school committee and the four units of the Belmont teachers union have reached more than 70 tentative agreements — including 10 paid days of parental leave — but cannot bridge a gap on compensation. The committee's two stated bargaining priorities are adding 15 minutes of instructional time within the existing seven-hour contractual workday and maintaining current staffing to avoid increases in class sizes. Moriarty said the union declined the school committee's request for state-facilitated mediation: "They did not see it clearly in as positive a way as what the school committee saw." On curriculum, Moriarty noted the district is rolling out a new ELA curriculum at the elementary level, following a new math curriculum introduced last year, both funded through a recent override and a town meeting appropriation. U.S. News and World Report ranked Belmont High School 259th nationally out of more than 24,000 high schools and ninth in Massachusetts.