Marblehead and Beverly end teacher strikes, schools will reopen Wednesday

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    MARBLEHEAD, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Marblehead and Beverly students will return to school on Wednesday as both communities reached tentative contract agreements with teachers Tuesday night, ending a series of strikes along the North Shore.

Students in Gloucester returned to school on Monday after an agreement with teachers was reached last week.

Marblehead reaches tentative agreement

Marblehead teachers went on strike earlier this month. The school committee announced a tentative agreement has been reached with the Marblehead Education Association.

“Both the School Committee and the Association recognize the stress and hardship caused to our students and families during the school closures, and we are committed to ensuring that the reopening of our schools will be a positive experience for our students and school community,” the Marblehead School Committee said in a statement.

Schools in Marblehead will reopen at the usual time on Wednesday, which is an early release day for students ahead of Thanksgiving.

“We look forward to welcoming our students back to school and to resuming the important work we are committed to doing,” the school committee statement said.

Beverly reaches tentative agreement

Just two hours after Marblehead’s announcement, educators in Beverly struck a deal too. Schools will also reopen in Beverly Wednesday after the school committee reached a tentative agreement with the Beverly Teachers Association. Beverly teachers entered their third week of the strike on Monday.

“We are beyond relieved and thankful to share that the Beverly School Committee and the Beverly Teachers Association have reached a tentative agreement that will allow our students to return to school on Wednesday, November 27. We deeply regret that their education was negatively impacted by the union’s strike,” Beverly School Committee Chair Rachael Abell said in a statement. “It is time for all of us to move on and refocus on what is most important: The children of Beverly.”

What’s in the Marblehead contract?

Copresident of the Marblehead Teachers’ Association Jonathan Heller said the new contract includes “significant” increases in pay, parental leave and improvements in school safety.

Those improvements include a school safety committee, said teacher Kristen Grohe. “The task force we fought for – and won – in this contract gives educators and the community a voice and a meaningful role in the development of solutions that make our schools safer for our students,” Grohe said.

Heller noted that the strike had been hard on families, but added, “Tomorrow marks a change in the right direction for our schools.”

Marblehead School Committee Chairperson Jennifer Schaeffner said the four-year contracts are a win-win. “I think in most cases in successful negotiations, if you both walk away not too happy and not too sad – which we did – it was successful,” Shaeffner said.

What’s in the Beverly contract?

Although full details of the three-year contract were not released, Abell said the contract includes wage increases and additional professional development time.

“I think that we have a lot of healing to do, and I look forward to bringing our community back together,” said Lorinda Visnick of the Beverly School Committee.

Why did teachers strike?

Teachers in all three communities asked for better pay, paid family leave, more preparation time and funding for paraprofessionals in their contracts, with many citing paraprofessional pay as a top issue.

Educators in Gloucester and Beverly went on strike the night of Thursday, Nov. 7. Marblehead teachers authorized a strike at the end of the school day on Friday, Nov. 8.

It is illegal for teachers to strike in Massachusetts, and the teachers associations were fined for each day teachers were on strike.

The Beverly Teachers Association had filed a complaint with the Department of Labor Relations, accusing the school committee of bargaining in bad faith.

What’s next?
Marblehead and Beverly students will return to school on Wednesday for a half-day before the Thanksgiving break. All of the missed school days will have to be made up.

Interim Superintendent of Marblehead Schools John Robidoux said students would have a “soft start” back to class and that school administrators and special education staff are planning to make the return to school as easy and welcoming as possible for students.

“In some respects, this chapter has ended but a new chapter is open because we are going to be some work to do in our community to fund this contract,” Shaeffner said, adding that the school district would be looking at a Proposition 2½ override.

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