MARBLEHEAD – Marblehead School Committee’s bargaining subcommittee and the Marblehead Education Association (Union) met to have a negotiation session solely dedicated to teacher contracts.
Unfortunately, the meeting ended abruptly, with no resolution.
“The subcommittee was hopeful to discuss all current proposals for Unit A,” said School Committee member Sarah Fox in a statement. “However, during a break requested by the Union, the Union left and notified the subcommittee via text they were unilaterally adjourning the negotiations immediately.”
This was the last negotiating session scheduled before the start of the school year and before the expiration of the current deal on August 31.
The Union had proposed to create a district-wide task force to address student safety issues.
“The School Committee is not committed to working with us to find solutions to the problems in our schools,” read a statement sent by Jonathan Heller, co-president of the Union.
The Union statement went on to say, “The Committee prefers to maintain business as usual and not include frontline educators in the decision-making process. We are very disheartened at their position regarding this task force, as it is an eminently reasonable, proactive step towards keeping our students safe, and it would have no budgetary impact whatsoever.”
After the School Committee unilaterally filed for mediation regarding the district’s custodial unit, the Union felt it would be most productive for both parties to continue their dialogue during their next scheduled session on September 10. That was the reason the Union gave for ending the meeting, according to its statement.
The School Committee, in its statement, concluded by saying it “deeply values all of its employees, students and community and will continue to commit the time necessary to reach a fair contract.”
