Mansfield School Committee Ratifies Three-Year Teachers Contract With 2.25 Percent Year-One Raise

MANSFIELD — June 17, 2026 — Mansfield School Committee ratifies three-year MEA contract and approves bus driver deal at wide-ranging June 17 meeting. The committee and Town Manager Mallory Ehrenstein voted unanimously in executive session to ratify a 2026-2029 contract with the Mansfield Educators Association covering salary increases of 2.25 percent in year one and 2.5 percent in each of years two and three, along with new longevity bonuses ranging from $750 to $3,800, expanded family leave provisions, and codification of the Mansfield High School Hornet Block. Ehrenstein publicly acknowledged disagreeing with the year-one rate, saying "even though 2.25 is a very humble increase at this point, it's just something that we're not doing on our side," but called the overall contract modest and collaborative. MEA President Scott Sprunt told the committee membership ratified the agreement 87-0, calling it "the first time in my tenure that that's ever happened where there was a bagel." A concurrent three-year bus drivers agreement introduced flat dollar-per-hour raises of 75 cents, one dollar, and one dollar per year, a 202-day work year, a family care sick leave expansion, a safe-driving stipend totaling up to $475 by FY29, and a $100 winter clothing allowance for all drivers. The committee also accepted a $3,600 MESA donation for Robinson School basketball hoops, approved a Best Buddies trip to Indiana University, voted 5-0 on consolidated school handbook updates, adopted Superintendent McEwen's summative evaluation, and approved a one-time FY26 vacation buyback for McEwen covering five unused days.