Andover Schools Remain Closed As Committee, Union Work On Deal

ANDOVER, MA — Schools remained closed as the Andover Education Association (AEA) and the School Committee have yet to come to a deal.

The two sides ended a meeting Monday at 11:30 p.m., according to the School Committee. Bargaining was scheduled to resume Tuesday morning.

The School Committee said it was encouraged by the progress made Tuesday.

"The current offers on the table from the School Committee and AEA are closer than when the day began," the School Committee wrote. "The School Committee regrets that school had to be canceled again Tuesday due to the strike and hopes that students are back in the classroom Wednesday."

The AEA called the School Committee's offer "substandard" and said that it was "forcing Andover Public Schools to remain closed."

"While there was progress on wages for instructional assistants, the School Committee is refusing to offer a fair cost-of-living wage adjustment to teachers," the teachers union said in a statement.

The AEA said it has "greatly modified" its wage proposals to reach a contract agreement and that "the School Committee is simply reiterating threats about job cuts and program cuts."

However, the Town of Andover posted on its Facebook page that the union's latest contract proposal requests an 18% raise for all teachers over four years.

"This would far exceed the available budget for the School Department," the post reads. "Funding a raise of this magnitude would require Andover Public Schools to implement fees, and make reductions to staff and programs, directly impacting the quality of education provided to students."

The union has said the town is receiving more money each year from the state through the Student Opportunity Act, but the funds are not "finding their way into the schools."

The AEA was penalized for striking after the School Committee took the matter to the courts. The union was fined $50,000 with penalties scheduled to increase to $60,000 on day 2 and $70,000 on day three. The fines "will completely deplete the AEA's cash reserves," according to a Facebook post from the union.

However, the union said it anticipated the fines and that the School Committee "has not broken us."

The School Committee and the AEA have been bargaining since January without a resolution. The AEA's membership voted to strike Thursday, and school has been canceled since that time.