4:10 p.m. There is confusion about the interpretation of an Essex Superior Court judge’s ruling Friday afternoon that said interim Superintendent John Robidoux cannot cancel athletics and non-athletic extracurriculars as long as there is staff available to lead those activites. The ruling prompted MHS football coaches Jim Rudloff and Mike Giardi to head to Grafton for tonight’s big game.
However, Robidoux reached out to the Current to say, “There should be absolutely no confusion. They (striking teachers) can’t pick and choose when they want to work.”
Robidoux said the ruling supports his latest decision yestereday to allow non-union personnel to coach and lead activities.
Marblehead dad Jon Wales, whose two sons play on the MHS football team, filed the appeal for injunction with other fathers. He says Robidoux’s comments are in “defiance of a court order.”
Attorney Keith Sachs, who lives in Marblehead and filed the injunction appeal, told the Current “Mr. Robidoux is completely wrong in his interpretation of the court’s order. Had the court believed that Mr. Robidoux’s decision yesterday of allowing sports with volunteers was enough, the court would not have made any ruling beyond saying that the controversy has ended. Because the court believed what Mr. Robidoux did was not enough in relation to what the plaintiffs was seeking, the court made a specific rulng today that activities had to go on and that union members could participate.”
The full text of the order appears below.
Stay with the Current as this story develops.
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NEW at 3:40 p.m. – An Essex Superior Court judge just granted Marblehead parents an emergency injunction that allows striking teachers to coach and lead activities. Marblehead High School football coaches Jim Rudloff and Mike Giardi are on their way to Grafton this afternoon to lead their team in the Division 4 quarter final. The Current will be there.
The ruling from Judge Janice W. Howe reads, “Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that Marblehead is to lift its cancellation of all scheduled athletic and non-athletic extracurricular events and activities, and further, it is prohobited from cancelling athletic and non-athletic extracurricular events and and activities moving forward, so long as the coaches/advisors remain willing to staff these events and activities to ensure the safety of the student participants.”
Marblehead dad Jon Wales, whose two sons play on the MHS football team, filed the appeal for injunction with other fathers.
“All we did is act for the kids who didn’t have a voice, “Wales told the Current from his car on the way to the game. “Any parent would’ve done this. i’m just glad that a judge saw it our way. I’m glad that the kids can compete tonight and their coaches can coach.”
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A crowd of Marblehead High School teachers and coaches, who are on strike, applauded the football players as their bus pulled out of Marblehead on the way to the Division 4 quarter-final tonight in Grafton.
The Marblehead Education Association and School Committeebargaining subcommittee is at MHS this afternoon,working with a top state labor mediator. The MEA has called a 7:45 p.m. press conference outside the high school. Teachers are also planning another rally at Seaside Park on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
Marblehead teachers are fightng for higher wages, better parental and bereavement benefits and more say in setting safety polities in the schools. The School Committee says the town simply doesn’t have the funds to approve the teachers’ proposals with an override. If the override failed, it wouild lead to 75 layoffs, the committee said.
