PEABODY — The tension between the Peabody School Department and the Peabody Federation of Teachers (PFT) over concerns about teacher safety continues to escalate.
“We need you to treat us like you care about us and, right now, our members don’t feel that way,” PFT President Mary Henry said at the School Committee’s Jan. 12 meeting.
Henry requested that the School Committee allow teachers the choice of coming into buildings or working remotely from home.
She said PFT members are being “disrespected,” and that they are “tired of being told how great (they) are,” while being exposed to increased risks, as they are required to report to school every day.
Being congratulated on “how good we are doing” is nothing but “toxic positivity,” Henry said, adding that the union isn’t buying into a claim the district made at a Dec. 22 School Committee meeting — that there has been no in-school transmission.
“I don’t believe there has been no in-school transmission. There have been clusters,” Henry said. “This disease is spiking more and more and more. It’s adapting. You should be putting teachers at the front of the line (to be vaccinated with first responders). You need to take care of us.”
Superintendent Dr. Josh Vadala, who praised both staff and families at the last School Committee meeting, saying, “I am really proud of (them) and this is really a badge of honor to keep hybrid learning continuous,” said this week that he felt Henry’s remarks were a drastic change in tone and extremely negative.
“I am extremely disappointed with the tone and message from the teachers’ union president during the public participation portion of the Jan. 12 School Committee meeting,” he said. “Throughout this challenging year, the School Committee and I have maintained a collaborative and professional relationship with our teachers. Unfortunately, many of Ms. Henry’s statements were a deviation from this collaborative relationship, as they represented her opinions, rather than facts.”
Vadala added that he considered Henry’s commentary to be “an attempt to circumvent the current agreement between the School Committee and the PFT.”
“Ms. Henry used exaggeration, hyperbole, and misinformation to amplify her concerns,” Vadala said. “Although some members of the PFT may agree with these sentiments, many others have reached out expressing their displeasure with (Henry’s) message.”
Despite Vadala’s strong words, he pledged that he and the School Committee are “always willing and eager to engage in collaborative, professional conversations. We will continue to bargain in good faith with our unions, and we hope to proceed within an atmosphere that fosters dignity and mutual respect for one another.”
The disagreement comes on the heels of the district’s decision to pivot to remote learning at the high school this week through Jan. 19. The reasons cited for the switch were because it was no longer possible to adequately staff the school due to a shortage caused by an increase in the number of staff members who have been required to quarantine.
“The reason for the high school to go remote was the number of staff members having to quarantine got to the point where we couldn’t safely supervise the kids,” said Vadala. “By returning on the 19th, we would have stopped in-person learning for 10 consecutive days and felt that (was) enough time to get our staff back.”
Vadala said that the high school has been affected more than any other school in the district, with 90 positive cases and 121 people in quarantine situations since Dec. 1.
“Unfortunately, PVMHS has reached a critical point where the number of staff needing to quarantine due to positive cases or being close contacts prohibits our ability to effectively remain in an in-person learning model,” Vadala said.
Henry took issue with Vadala’s statement, saying, “we were told it was staffing issues, but in reality, it was a COVID issue.”
This isn’t the first time going to a remote-learning model at the high school was proposed. At the Dec. 22 School Committee meeting, Henry implored the committee to consider spending the first week of school after the Christmas break (Jan.4-8) in remote learning.
“We asked to be closed one week, and that wasn’t done and now we are at home,” she said.
Last August, Vadala and the district’s administrative leadership team presented a reopening plan, which proposed that grades pre-K to 8 start the year in a hybrid model, with the high school starting remotely.
Instead, Mayor Ted Bettencourt cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of adopting a hybrid model for the high school, saying at the time that he weighs decisions not only as a mayor and School Committee chairman, but as a parent of four children.
