Beverly Teachers Strike: 'Deeply Disappointed' Schools Stay Closed An 11th Day Monday

UPDATED 10:30 p.m.

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly Public Schools remained closed for an 11th day on Monday after the sides failed to reach a deal on a new teacher contract by a Sunday night court-imposed deadline.

The judge suspended and offered to forgive hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines against the Beverly Teachers Association through the weekend in hopes that talks would result in a deal that could reopen schools on Monday with the stipulation that fines would resume and a state-mandated "fact-finding" process would begin if the deadline was not met.

With that deadline now having come and gone, BTA co-President Julia Brotherton said the union would not participate in the fact-finding process that she said would lead to schools being closed for up to five to seven more days during the process, after which she said, the city is under no obligation to abide by the findings of the third-party mediator.

The strike continued into Monday in Marblehead as well under the same threat of state action and the "fact-finding" process.

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Brotherton said the "major sticking point" left in negotiations is paraprofessional pay.

"We will not go back until we get a living wage for paraprofessionals," she said. "They need to know that. They have not heard that (and satisfactorily responded) for 17 days."

Beverly School Committee Chair Rachael Abell said Sunday night she was "deeply disappointed" the sides could not reach a deal before the deadline and that the BTA's latest offer is still $3.3 million higher than the city deemed it can afford. She said that the difference is in compensation and benefits alone, and does not include other BTA demands that carry with them an additional price tag.

"The School Committee had hoped that we would be able to reach a deal today, before the state-imposed mediation deadline, to bring our students and educators back to school," Abell said in a community update late Sunday night. "Unfortunately, it is clear to me that the BTA is not seriously considering our offers, will not return to work while mediation is ongoing, and will not move in any significant way from the initial demands they made months ago."

She said the School Committee voted to begin withholding pay for days not worked.

BTA co-President Andrea Sherman said Sunday night that negotiations are not set to continue until 1 p.m. on Monday, which she called "disappointingly late for us."

Abell said earlier on Sunday that if "significant progress is not made soon the School Committee "intends to abide by the court order, end mediation, and begin the fact-finding process immediately.

"The BTA has said that they plan to flout the order of the judge and not participate in the state fact-finding," Abell said. "That is incredibly disappointing and we hope the educators return to work on Tuesday and join us at state-ordered fact-finding as directed by the court."

Beverly City Councilors spoke out on the stalled bargaining on Friday with a resolution expected to be introduced at Monday night's meeting calling on the sides to reach a deal.

"In the event, we as a city are still in this crisis on Monday, the City Council will have an opportunity to discuss together," City Councilor Hannah Bowen said in a social media post, noting the City Council does not have a formal role in the negotiations. "It will be a discussion among Councilors about a public statement, not a discussion about school funding levels. Resolutions are a tool to say something publicly, as a group. With so many constituents asking us to speak, it feels like the right tool."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)