Minneapolis school support staff reach tentative agreement on new contract

The union representing education support professionals in Minneapolis Public Schools has reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the district.

The agreement came around noon Thursday — after 27 hours of negotiations and less than a day after the educational support professionals chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers had filed an intent to strike.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve done together,” Catina Taylor, president of the union chapter representing the district’s support staff, said in a statement announcing the tentative agreement. “We’re raising wages and we’re creating a compensation system that recognizes the value of experience in the district,” she wrote, adding that the agreement will help attract more educators to the city’s schools.

Last week, the teachers chapters of the union reached a tentative agreement on their contract with the district. Both the teachers and education support professionals will vote on the agreements May 8-10.

Union leaders have said that the details of the agreements will not be made public until union members have the chance to review them.

If the unions approve them, the contracts then go to the school board.

In a statement issued by the school district, Minneapolis Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams said, “Our education support professionals are essential and play an important role in our students’ lives. I am excited that we have reached a tentative agreement and look forward to continued partnership with our ESPs as we work together to ensure that MPS is the district of choice for Minneapolis families.”

The district’s teachers and support staff have worked on an expired contract for 300 days. Both chapters of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers went on strike for nearly three weeks in March 2022.