School Committee: November 26, 2024

Transcript captured from MHTV’s Vimeo auto-captioning. No speaker labels; proper names and dollar figures occasionally misheard. Click any timecode to jump to that moment in the source video.

0:14 All right. Welcome everyone. Good evening. Hi, I am Jen Schaffner, chair Marblehead School Committee member of the Bargaining Subcommittee. I’m here with, uh, fellow school committee member Sarah Fox and bargaining committee member, um, also bargaining committee member and town administrator, Thatcher Keer and Superintendent of Schools, John ou. Thank you everyone for coming. We appreciate it. Um, very exciting and happy news to report. Um, the Marblehead School Committee and the Marblehead Education Association have reached tentative agreements and employees will be returning to work and schools will reopen on Wednesday, November 27th, 2024. Both the school committee and the association recognize the stress and hardship caused to our students and families during the school closure, and we are committed to ensuring that the reopening of our schools will be a positive experience

0:59 for our students and school community Schools will reopen for students at the usual time on Wednesday, November 27th, which is an early release day. We look forward to welcoming our students back to school and to resuming the important work we are committed to doing, and we wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving in the Marblehead schools. Does anyone have any questions? Did the governor’s comments earlier have anything to do with expediting this? Finally, kind of reaching this point, governor Healy made some comments at the State House today, basically calling on teachers to end this or to at least return to school and continued negotiations, but while returning to school. Yeah. And we had, I mean, there was a lot of communications through various state folks that were interested as well as, um, municipal folks.

1:46 I think it was recognized by everybody that, you know, having teachers on strike, having students outta school is not good for anybody. And so I think there was an effort to, um, show support for let’s get this done, let’s get an agreement in place and let’s get back. So, yeah, I, I mean, it, it, it, it helps to what extent it had an influence in our case or the other communities, you know, that may vary, but, um, the fact that there was a lot of attention even from the state agencies, uh, uh, the Department of Labor, uh, relations and the serve and the governor’s office, uh, were all focused on trying to figure out how do we get this done? Yeah, and I’d like to say too, thank you to the governor, Lieutenant Governor for their support through this, um,

2:33 and, and being there for us. Um, secretary of Education, um, Patrick Tutwiler. We’ve been in con constant contact with him. Um, so we did, we did have a lot of support on the state level during this, this challenging time. Quick question for John. What, what, do you have anything planned for tomorrow? Have you talked to, um, your administrators, principals on how to welcome the kids back? So, yes, uh, we have been having those conversations in an ongoing way since the strike started. Um, not knowing how long was going to last, um, so that all the administrators have worked together to, uh, make sure that they, uh, welcome the students back. Um, and, and so this positive, safe environment for them, uh, coming in, kind of doing a soft start just ‘cause knowing that they’ve been out for several weeks. Uh, especially some of’em are more vulnerable students.

3:20 Um, so there’s a lot of planning that’s gone into place by the administration and, uh, by some of our, uh, special education staff to make sure that the students are welcome back in an appropriate manner and can come back into school. Being a, a early release day, tomorrow’s actually probably a good thing because, you know, they’ve been out school come in, just kind of get their feet wet and, um, then be able to enjoy the Thanksgiving vacation and then, uh, you know, be back at it on Monday. So, uh, I’m very, um, happy to report that we have plans in place and that, um, principals have communicated that out to parents at this point. So How would you characterize, um, this agreement? Uh, was it a win-win? Were there a lot of concessions and how difficult is gonna be to actually make this work? So, I, I would say, um, that yes, uh, the negotiation

4:07 of the agreement in a contracts are a win-win. I think in most cases, in successful negotiations, if you both walk away not too happy and not too sad, you know, which I think we did that it was, you know, it was successful. Um, I think that we, um, it was unfortunate that it took this long, um, and that it had to come to a strike. I’m not, uh, necessarily sure that we wouldn’t have been able to have gotten there without this, um, that was for sure unfortunate. Um, but I think we have solid agreements with our, with our con with our units. Um, we have four year agreements, which is great. It gives us plenty of time to get this implemented. It gives us time for our, um, for employees to, um, you know, receive competitive wages over that time. And, um, there are other parts, some other administrative parts of our contract,

4:52 which were able to address some issues that, um, both sides felt needed to be addressed, uh, within the school day and within, you know, their functions, um, as, as teachers and other other units. So in that respect, we’re, we’re very pleased, um, with the result. Lastly, For me, you know, we’re seeing strikes across the state, teacher strikes across the state, and this is a four year agreement. So how concerning, uh, is it to you that, uh, in four years you might be back here again?

5:20 Um, I really think that there’s been some awareness throughout this process. Um, I think if asked, I’m not sure that people that voted the way they did to strike would do it again. Um, I, I think in a lot of ways it became clear to many people in our community, um, who sit in different roles that these strikes were not about individual towns. They were not about individual unions. They were about a state initiative at the state level of the MTA. And we are hoping that, um, communities have seen that and communities will put a stop to that and, and be able to focus on what their community needs rather than, you know,

6:06 putting their communities through something for, for something that isn’t based in their towns or cities. Um, and I think we have seen that awareness, whether it’s here in the other North Shore towns or statewide. Um, I’ve read articles, you know, published in the last two weeks in the Wall Street Journal, um, that really highlight it, what is happening here. And I do think there has been an awareness, and I’m hoping it, it stops.

6:35 Uh, can I ask the, and when the MEA had this press conference a few minutes ago, they kind of summarized some of the agreements, and I just wanna get that confirmed with you. They, they characterize the wage increase as 10.5 to 16%. Is that your characterization? It’s actually, I’m sorry, go ahead. Yeah, I’d say to um, 18%, um, on high end is, is it probably more accurate now? There are five different units that were being negotiated. There are many steps and lanes and such. So the averages, uh, the, the amount of the increases are, are different. So, uh, that’s very much a blended, a blended rate. So, um, you know, at the end result, um,

7:22 the, the, the school unions, uh, didn’t get everything they asked for, um, in, in the dollars, but they got probably the best package that Marblehead has ever given, uh, to its union, union. So, um, in any budgetary matter you have to balance, um, you know, the commitments you make for salaries and the ability to have the revenues to support those salaries. And I think that was probably the main battle line in the negotiations is how far can this community go? Um, and you know, ultimately, um, we were happy. They, they agreed with our numbers on the, on the salaries ultimately, um, we, you know, we moved in their direction,

8:11 um, and ultimately, you know, came to agreement. There are, there are many other components of the contract that are more very school operationals, uh, focused. Um, my focus as the town administrator obviously is I need to be able to create a balanced budget for the entire, uh, town and school operations. So we have to have an agreement that, that balance those challenges out and, and allows us to, uh, to, to maintain operations in all parts of the town. I think before you go on, Lee, I just wanted to add in a couple things. In some respects, um, this chapter has ended, but a new chapter is open because we are going to have some work to do in our community to, um, to fund this, uh, new contract.

8:57 And, uh, there’s gonna be some work to do, um, from the political side and the proposition two and a half override, um, focus will discussions will probably begin, don’t have any idea what that’s gonna look like at this point. But, um, in, in that respect, I think that chapter’s now opening. Um, the other thing too, to note in regards to this contract is, is, which I think is great news for, uh, for all of the units, they did, um, see a significant increase in paid parental leave or got paid parental leave for up to 12 weeks. So in, in the case of, uh, parents of new, um, children coming into their family. So I think that’s very important. And also the joint safety committee, that was very important to the union to be able to have, um, a, you know, a joint committee with the administration and can work towards, um, addressing issues that are

9:44 of concern in the school buildings around safety, and then reporting back to the school committee and letting the school committee take, take action, um, as needed or if needed on their recommendations. So other key parts to that contract, which I think are important to note That I was just gonna ask you about those. So thank you. Um, touching just a little bit on the override, because that is now, like you said, new chapter, new focus, everyone’s shifting. Um, um, and I know you’re exhausted, right? Mm-Hmm. And you just wanna go home, take a shower. But, um, do you think, like, will you guys be forming committees? Will you have public meetings? Um, so town meeting is in May, so you’ve got, you know, four and a half, five months I guess. And, um, um, and we don’t know what other kind of overrides might end up being on the, on that town meeting warrant.

10:30 So are you guys gonna work together? Are you, is there, have you had a chance to think about any of that yet? So, um, this override is like any other override in that there’s a process. Um, it starts with the budget process that has already begun in departments town wide. Um, once those numbers are ready and we, you know, every, every department follows pretty much the same process. They d they determine what is the staff they need to accurately run their department to right size it. And from there, you know, you you, you apply your contractual obligations and you get your budget and you compare it to what is the projected revenue. I know, um, we have another big meeting coming up, is that December 11th?

11:16 Yeah. Somewhere around there to get some projections from the town finance department. And then after you followed through that, that process and done your due diligence, then we really have the true override number at that point. What whatever’s working on right now is projections. And then we, we follow it through the process doesn’t change, um, in like any other year we’ve done it. We will be putting out very transparent budget books. We’ll have everything online. Um, there’s a very collaborative town and school process to develop the budget through the budget subcommittee. Um, there will be, as in years past, we’ve always had public forums and information sessions in the budget hearing. So none of that will change. That’s always been the same.

12:01 I think the, what’s different here is the number of people that have become awakened to the process and that it exists. And hopefully they’ll continue to follow that and support town funding and support school funding. But our process in and of itself has always existed and for the last few years we’ve worked really hard to refine it and work collaboratively with the town. So we will continue to do so and just hope that, um, this groundswell of support for funding our schools continues. Right. Can I make a couple of comments about that too? I think, um, you know, first of all, we have seen a tremendous amount of folks in our community, um, reaching out to us in various ways over the last two weeks and, um, asking for, pleading for demanding, um,

12:48 the funding for our school, for the contracts for our school employees. So, um, we heard your messages certainly may not have responded to every single one of them. Uh, but I, it, you know, it’s important to note to all those folks who have, have reached out that we’re, we’re going to, you know, we’re gonna need you to come out when it comes time for, um, you know, raising awareness around funding in, in May, and then with a follow up, uh, ballot, um, in June. And that those folks need to hopefully, you know, stay involved and, and get involved. I mean, one thing that, um, Thatcher had said earlier in this process is that an override, a proposition, two and a half override will only pass when the community demands it. And we certainly have been hearing that, and we hope and expect that that will, you know, that we’ll be able to partner with them ‘cause the committee can’t do it.

13:35 That’s, you know, we’re not even legally allowed to be promoting that. So we really need to rely on the community to do that. The other comment I will make too is that we have talked a lot, a lot in the last number of years about the school committee and the town side, the select board coming together and working together. And while I do think there has been a lot of, um, bridges built in the past, I think this experience when I wanna always wanna look at, you know, what were the positives that came out of a difficult time like this. That’s what I always taught my children. You know, you gotta find, you know, what, what, where are your opportunities? Um, it’s that we really have absolutely come together with the town side of government in terms of the elected officials, our select board and our town administrator. And we, we really understand the challenges both sides are under and worked together to recognize

14:22 what the funding needs are for the school schools, the funding needs for the town, and how we can split that pie up, which is not an unlimited pie in, in a way that is fair to all of our employees town wide. Cool. I have last two really quick questions and they’re related. Um, is the contract retro after to the end of August? No, it’s not. So it starts today. Um, it started today upon ratification. Okay. Um, one of the pieces for that is, is typically in a return to work agreement, um, the very high cost of a strike, there’s, there’s a high cost to striking to municipalities. And often the union will take that cost on in a return to work agreement. Um, in our return to work agreement, they did not do that.

15:07 So we did not, we were, we did not, in lieu of that, we did, um, withhold not agree to retroactive. We will need to dedicate those funds to offsetting the high cost of the strike. Do you have a sense of what that figure looks Like? At least $20,000 a day.

15:27 And, and does that include like your attorney fees or that’s just The cost of the town, like police and that’s police. That is the cost of providing meals for students as well. Um, the employees that did continue to show up to work, ‘cause there were some, um, various elements like that, the court filing fees will be part of that, um, the court filing for the strike, but not the negotiating attorney fees. Okay. Um, but there’s, there’s significant fees to any municipality when public employees strike. And then my second question was the wage package that you guys ratified today, is it the same thing that you discussed the other day? Um, like same implications, what it’s gonna add and what kind of layoffs will be that didn’t change. So the one that you discussed at your last press conference

16:12 is the one that you said ratified? Yeah, so, so the proposal that we had was what was adopted. So the numbers, you know, Didn’t change from that? No, It was the, it was the school committee proposal that was ratified. And that’s the one you From Sunday, from Sunday in that Statement. Okay, cool. Exactly, yes. Cool. Thank you. You gonna let her ask all the questions? Always. So I just wanna make another comment and Sarah can jump in it. Just in regards to today alone, it’s been a, you know, it’s been a long, whatever, it’s been 15 or 16 days, but you know, this morning started out very early, um, with a conversation with, um, one of the bargaining leaders on from the Marblehead Education Association, Mike gii. Um, we have been, we met with him this morning. Um, the three of us met and we were able to verbally come to this agreement, um,

17:01 and it took most of the day to actually make it happen on paper. Um, which is, which is understandable. Um, but I just wanna thank him for, for doing that, um, and working with us. And I think it shows when it was, it was the Marblehead School Committee and the, our Head of Education Association and not the MTA, um, involved that we were able to get this done. So thank you to him. And I just want to, you know, echo what Jen is saying. Um, you hear a lot, anybody that’s from Marblehead knows the phrase to be a to be a marble header, true marble header. And while Mike Giardi didn’t grow up in Marblehead and truly was not born here, I think today, um, he most certainly has made himself an honorary marble header because he, he king, he met

17:49 with us and we worked through it. We were on the phone with him all day long. And every parent in this town, every student in this town owes him a debt of gratitude because like Jen said, he really was able to get the conversation to focus on what, what we need in Marvel head. And, um, I will be eternally grateful for him for what he helped us do today. And he is also one of our football coaches. So, um, the, um, magicians are playing Big Blue Swamp Scott tomorrow at Fenway. So we wanna say go magicians. Um, and hopefully he gets a good night’s sleep and gets that team to a win. Okay. If I, if I can just take a minute to think that or two. Um, no, no, really, you know, it,

18:38 there’s always talk about tensions between town and schools, but this collaborative effort, um, between our town administrator, Thatcher Keer working with us nonstop every day, 14 hour days, um, to get us across the finish line. Um, incredibly grateful to him and again, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. Thank you, Thatcher. Thanks. Thanks.