Henniker wants to attract and retain teachers with a master's degree and will intentionally raise pay to compete with surrounding communities including Concord.

Voters will be asked to approve a proposed two-year teachers contract that would give an 8.8% hike in the first year for the 27 teachers who have not reached maximum seniority or education level, and a 4.5% raise for the other 16. The second year of the contract would provide a 4.5% pay increase for all teachers.

“The main focus of this contract negotiation was to pull compensation back in alignment with what is going on in the market,” said school board member Zach Lawson. He pointed to a chart that showed that the percentage of classes taught by someone certified in the subject had fallen from 94% to 85% in the past two years.

If approved, the starting salary for teachers with a bachelor’s degree next year would be $45,749, about $2,700 above neighboring Hopkinton but below neighboring Hillsborough and well below Concord’s $51,560. 

Starting salary for a teacher with a master’s degree would be $57,093, above all neighboring communities including Concord. That’s a deliberate choice, Lawson told the meeting.

“We are looking to attract teachers with a master’s degree certification and intentionally curved the grid in this way,” he said.

Voters will also see a $10.07 million school operating budget for the town’s school system on the ballot in March, an increase of 2.9%, following a deliberative session Monday night that was so speedy that the moderator was reduced to jokes.

“You make my job boring,” said Moderator Cordell Johnson after nobody in the sparse crowd at Henniker Community School had any questions about the operating budget.

Nobody had any questions about the teacher’s contract, either, and the only question about the contract for support staff involved its timing.  The meeting was over in 50 minutes.

All items will be voted on by ballot on election day, March 12.

If the budget passes, the school tax rate would increase from $8.45 per $100,000 of assessed valuation to $9.31, raising the annual tax bill on a $350,000 house by $400 a year.

The budget includes a cut of one classroom teacher position, but a hefty increase in health insurance costs and out-of-district special education costs.

A one-year contract with the support staff union would increase starting pay from $15 to $16 per hour and top-end wages from $20 to $25, giving an average pay hike of $2,900. It would cost an estimated $136,000 more next year.

The school has three administrative assistants and three custodians as well as 27 para-educator positions, of which four are unfilled.

The budget also includes an extra $19,000 for employees who are not part of a collective bargaining unit.