Marblehead Teacher Contract Talks Provide No Progress Toward Deal
MARBLEHEAD, MA — Monday's short bargaining session appeared to show few signs of closing the gap between the Marblehead Education Association and the School Committee Bargaining Sub-Committee on a new collective bargaining agreement as teachers close in on a month of working without a contract.
The previous contract expired on Aug. 31.
School Committee Chair Jennifer Schaeffner said in a School Committee statement that the Bargaining Sub-Committee presented a proposal that she said included increases to the wage proposal, parental leave and additional language for the Joint Committee on School Safety.
"However, it did not result in an agreement," Schaeffner said. "The MEA did not make any responses to the offered package proposal and noted they will take it under consideration."
She said the MEA notified the School Committee in advance of Monday's session that bargaining time would be limited on Monday with the bargaining session lasting about 90 minutes.
An apparent scheduling error postponed the previous negotiating session last week, only adding more acrimony to the troubled contract talks .
MEA Co-President Jonathan Heller called that postponement part of the district's "bad-faith tactics" and charged that the School Committee was showing an "incomprehensible resistance to any common-sense proposals" when it came to school safety and the "social-emotional needs of our youngest learners, as well as the mass exodus of school staff."
Wages and the teachers' binding role in a proposed School Safety Joint Committee have been two of the bigger sticking points in the talks.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for Oct. 1.
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at X/Twitter:
