***This story was updated at 1 p.m. to include new statements from the Marblehead Education Association.
The Marblehead teachers union and School Committee bargaining sub-group met for the 12th time on Monday night, with the School Committee reps offering “increases to the wage proposal, parental leave and additional language for the joint committee on school safety,” according to a statement released by School Committee Chair Jenn Schaeffner.
“We increased our wage proposal for Unit A (teachers) resulting in a wage increase of 9% for the majority of staff over three years,” Schaeffner told the Current.
The Marblehead Education Association responded in a statement on Tuesday, “This offer is the first the committee has made since they received ours in June, and completely contradicts their previous position in bargaining that no additional money is available in the first year of the deal. The committee still has not provided an answer as to how they will work with us and the community to ensure that Marblehead Public Schools offers wages that are competitive with our neighbors on the North Shore.”
The Current asked the bargaining sub-group how its new offer would impact the budget, and did not immediately hear back.
The MEA statement about the sub-group’s offer continued: “They increased their salary proposal in years one and three of the contract, raising their total three-year offer from 4% to 6%, for all members who are not at the top salary step. Top salary step members would receive 9%. This wage offer would only exacerbate the catastrophic turnover our schools are experiencing and keep Marblehead educator salaries significantly behind other districts in the region. Inflation alone during our last contract was 16.9% (2021-2023). Marblehead Public Schools’ salaries were already lagging behind our neighbors and peer districts due to chronic underfunding, and this financial offer is effectively a pay cut. Even if the committee offered us 9% in the first year of this deal, when accounting for projected inflation in 2024, their offer would not even make up for half of the erosion of our wages since 2021.”
Parental leave
The School Committee’s bargaining sub-group said it “increased the paid parental leave we are offering by 20% over our previous offer.” The bargaining sub-group had previously offered 10 days of paid leave. The union is asking for 12 weeks of paid leave.
Again, the MEA pushed back. “They increased the number of paid parental leave days in their response from 10 to 12, and framed these additional two days as a ‘20% increase.’ Their proposal still discriminates against the parents of children born over the summer and non-birth parents. It does not
reflect an appreciation for the critical importance of a parent bonding with a new child.”
Safety task force
The bargaining sub-group said it offered new language regarding a proposed safety task force. The MEA says the new language isn’t strong enough.
“They proposed the word ‘may’ instead of ‘shall’ regarding the total number of MEA members on a district safety committee,” the MEA said. “They refused to agree to language that says this committee ‘will’ do anything or be held accountable to the community.”
At a School Committee meeting on Sept. 19, Schaeffner and member Sarah Fox said the union’s wage proposals represent a 40%-170% increase over three years and would require either a 14% tax override or the laying off of 42% of MPS staff.
“That is what we battle with every time we’re in bargaining,” Fox said.
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