Marblehead board member to recuse himself from teacher talks

MARBLEHEAD – A potential conflict involving School Committee member Dick Nohelty has caused the School Committee to reshape its collective bargaining team for the teachers? contract, but one member is questioning the way it was done.That contract ends Aug. 12., according to committee Chairman EuRim Chun, who said Thursday she is trying to arrange a date for the first negotiating session and expects bargaining to begin in February.Nohelty?s wife is a schoolteacher, and he has announced that he will recuse himself from any discussion or decision on the teachers and their contract.However, that reduces the number of committee members that can vote to ratify the contract from five to four.Based on past practice, the collective bargaining committee would normally include five members: Superintendent of Schools Greg Maass, Attorney Elizabeth Velario, the committee?s labor counsel, Town Administrator Tony Sasso, Chun and one more School Committee member. Sasso will have a vote when the School Committee ratifies the contract.The Marblehead Education Association president, Mary Miles, will head the teachers? bargaining unit.After some brief discussion on Dec. 1, the committee vote to eliminate the second committee member from the bargaining team, on Chun?s recommendation, reducing the team to four members.The committee can vote on the size of the bargaining team, since the team is viewed as a subcommittee of the School Committee.Committee member Thomas Connolly, who previously called the change “drastic,” moved to request a written opinion from Velario on the make-up of the School Committee bargaining team Thursday. His motion failed to get a second.Connolly also tried to read a letter from a Marblehead resident which concerned Nohelty?s situation.Nohelty objected to the reading because Miles and other teachers were present to negotiate a grievance with the committee. Committee member Jonathan Lederman called the letter “something we?ve seen in the past,” but reminded Nohelty to recuse himself if it came up for discussion. Chun said she would seek a legal opinion about reading the letter and its contents.