'Seems Insurmountable': Marblehead Teacher Contract Wage Proposal Gap Still Wide
MARBLEHEAD, MA — Proposed wage increases remain what Marblehead School Committee member Sarah Fox called "a gap that seems insurmountable" in staff contract negotiations as teachers and the School Committee traded very different perspectives on the stalled negotiations at Thursday night's meeting.
Several teachers and community members spoke during public comment urging the School Committee to do more to demand more funding for the schools and the staff, and to address wages, safety concerns and staff turnover, while the School Committee responded later in the meeting — after nearly all of the teachers who were there for public comment had left — that the current Marblehead Education Association proposals would result in needing $7.6 million in property tax overrides or the layoff of 75 staff members (15 percent of school employees).
"It is becoming increasingly evident that the problems facing our schools cannot continue to be ignored," MEA co-President Jonathan Heller said in a letter to the School Committee that he said was signed by more than 700 teachers and community members. "The current path taken by the School Committee has resulted in a historic turnover of over 20 percent within our teacher community — leaving educators feeling disrespected, undervalued and unsupported.
"We urge the School Committee to confront these issues head-on and listen to the voices of community members and frontline educators."
The letter also said that it is "essential to provide modern parental leave benefits and ensure competitive wages and salaries that align with neighboring districts."
"We need to attract and maintain the best talent for our students," Heller said.
But School Committee members responded in their update about 45 minutes after the public comment that the funding is not there for the type of budget increases the MEA is proposing amid a townwide structural deficit, what Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer called "anemic growth" in revenue, and an exhibited reticence among residents to approve a tax override to fund the schools.
A $3 million general override for the schools proposed in 2022 was defeated by a two-to-one margin, while a general town override was defeated by 400 votes in 2023. The Select Board and School Committee did not request an override this past June, but Fox noted a general townwide override request of $4 million to $5 million is likely coming in the next year or two, which would not include the additional $7.6 million to fund the proposed teacher contract.
"To clearly state, as far as wages, we are still far, far apart," Fox said. "There is still a gap that seems insurmountable from a funding standpoint. Quite frankly, it's a wager on services for our students that would be irresponsible at that level (of potential layoffs)."
The School Committee is required to present a balanced budget with any override request — meaning the cuts would be in place pending the override vote late in June and would automatically take effect if the override vote failed.
Fox also noted that even if the override passed for the schools for one year there was no guarantee that town meeting members would appropriate the money back to the schools for the ensuing years of the proposed four-year (one-year and subsequent three-year) contract.
School Committee Chair Jennifer Schaeffner said that she believed the sides had moved closer on parental leave, a proposed safety committee and other issues.
"We are committed to bargaining a contract that meets the needs of our students, our staff and our community," Schaeffner said. "We have made progress. We absolutely have. We were far apart. We have come a little bit closer together. We are meeting again on Monday. We are meeting again the following Monday. So that's the good news.
"We hope that we will be able to continue to make that progress sooner rather than later and be able to come to a contract (agreement)."
School Committee Alison Taylor, who is not on the Bargaining Sub-Committee with Fox and Schaeffner, concluded the School Committee presentation by noting that while she understands the emotions surrounding the prolonged talks she is disheartened by the rhetoric that suggests the School Committee members are the villains amid the budget constraints.
"We are facing the problems," she said. "I don't know that anybody is avoiding the problems. I have children in the school district too and I hope that people will review (the proposals) and understand that there is only so much that five people can do.
"It is so hard day after day to read post after post (on social media). You would think the five people here are the devil. ... To hear the names that we're called, the assumptions that get placed on us. ... We aren't avoiding the problem. I think we're trying to work toward solutions. ...
"But there is a level of reality that we have to live in."
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at X/Twitter:
