'Very Disheartened': Marblehead Teachers Fire Back On Contract Talks

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead Education Association fired back at the School Committee on Wednesday morning after the Bargaining Sub-Committee said Tuesday night that the union abruptly cut off the 10th negotiating session just days ahead of the expiration of the current deal.

The Bargaining Sub-Committee released a statement on Tuesday night saying that the MEA informed it that it was "unilaterally adjourning negotiations immediately" during a break in Tuesday's four-hour session.

The MEA said on Wednesday that was because "the School Committee is not committed to working with us to find solutions to the problems in our schools."

• Marblehead Teacher Contract Talks Break Down Ahead Of New School Year

The MEA said the School Committee was unresponsive to its proposal to create a district-wide task force to address high-priority safety issues in all our school buildings following a year in which the teachers union blamed lack of administrative oversight and protocols for producing a climate of fear among staff in some schools.

"The Committee prefers to maintain business as usual and not include frontline educators in the decision-making process," the MEA said on Wednesday. "We are very disheartened at their position regarding this task force, as it is an eminently reasonable, proactive step towards keeping our students safe, and it would have no budgetary impact whatsoever.

"After making little headway on this topic with the Committee, our team felt it would be most productive for both parties to continue our dialogue during our next scheduled session," the MEA said.

The bargaining session had been dedicated to teacher contracts after the School Committee requested state mediation amid what it called an impasse with the custodian union earlier this week.

This was the last negotiating session scheduled before the start of the new school year and before the expiration of the current deal. The next scheduled session is Sept. 10.

"The Marblehead School Committee deeply values all of its employees, students and community and will continue to commit the time necessary to reach a fair contract," the School Committee Bargaining Sub-Committee said.

(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.)