'$5 Million' Gap: Marblehead School Committee Seeks State Help In Teacher Contract Dispute
MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead School Committee is seeking an impasse declaration and state mediation help from the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations as it said the district and Marblehead Education Association remain $5 million apart in talks on teacher and school staff contracts.
School Committee Bargaining Sub-committee representative Sarah Fox said the union rejected that request at Monday night's bargaining session but that the Committee will proceed with filing the request with the DLR "to help work towards settling a new contract that meets the needs of the union and takes into account the fiscal reality of our town."
The MEA said in a statement Monday night that the latest bargaining session produced "little progress to show" for months of negotiations and blamed the School Committee's unwillingness to seek the funding necessary to present educators and staff with a fair contract for the stalemate.
"The lack of urgency to settle these contracts reflects a lack of respect for our work," the MEA said.
One area where the School Committee and MEA appear to agree, based on their public statements , is the need for a property tax override to fund the MEA wage increase proposals. While the MEA has indicated a desire to work with the School Committee to determine the amount of that override and push for it, the Bargaining Sub-committee has said it cannot risk the staff and program cuts (it estimates to be 15 percent across the board) should the townwide vote fail — as it did when overrides were on the ballot in 2022 and 2023.
Fox's statement on Monday night said that the current MEA proposal would necessitate $9.7 million in new spending over the next four years, with the school budget only expected to have access to $1 million in new spending in each of those four years.
"Therefore, the Sub-committee's proposal would currently require either budget reductions or an override to fund," the School Committee statement said.
"In tonight's session, for the first time, the School Committee admitted an override would be necessary but neglected to collaborate with educators to determine a reasonable, authentic number that would answer the needs of our schools," the MEA countered. "The Committee acknowledged Marblehead is underfunding our schools. Yet the committee refused to provide a counter on any of the most important issues to educators and students, ending the session by declaring they could not respond on any other issues."
The MEA said the lack of movement on wages and other issues, including increased staff support, longer lunch and recess periods for elementary school students and paid family leave, indicate a lack of willingness to deal with what it called a "crisis" in the Marblehead Public Schools.
"A career in public education cannot be one that penalizes professionals who want active roles in the care of parents, children and other family members," the MEA said. "Educators are used to giving and getting very little in return, but these negotiations have taken that to a new level. Meeting after meeting educators come with new offered compromises, attempts to reduce costs, and a willingness to reach an agreement.
"These are not the actions of a School Committee who earnestly wishes to settle a contract. They are not the actions of a School Committee bargaining in good faith. There is a crisis in Marblehead Public Schools and the School Committee is more focused on hiring PR firms than settling fair contracts that address school needs."
"This crisis did not arrive overnight. But avoiding the realities of paying for what our students deserve and need in terms of staff and programs is no way to solve the problems."
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at X/Twitter: