Classes will be canceled again Thursday for nearly 10,000 students as teacher strikes continue across three communities on the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Educators across Beverly, Gloucester and Marblehead are refusing to return to the job until a new contract is reached with their local school committees. Schools in all three communities were closed Wednesday, and the districts confirmed they would not reopen Thursday.
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It remains a stalemate — which is why there was no school on Wednesday. But it's illegal for teachers to strike in Massachusetts. So on Tuesday, the Beverly and Gloucester educators were called to court to face fines for refusing to return to class.
Essex County Superior Court Judge Janice Howe ordered the Gloucester Teachers Association to pay $50,000, and the Gloucester Association of Educational Paraprofessionals to pay $15,000, if they don't end their strike by 6 p.m. Wednesday.
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Starting at 3 p.m. Thursday, failing to end the strike will result in those fines being repeated at rates increasing by $10,000 per school day for the GTA and $5,000 per school day for the GAEP, Howe wrote.
The Gloucester School Committee has also decided to stop paying teachers for every day they don't show up in school.
The Beverly School Committee said later Wednesday that the Beverly Teachers Association was also ordered to pay $50,000 Wednesday, a rate increasing incrementally by $10,000, like in Gloucester.
There was no immediate word on fines for union members in Beverly or Marblehead.
All three districts are demanding better pay, benefits, paid parental leave and more support for paraprofessionals.
Negotiations continued in all three communities Wednesday. In Marblehead, they made progress on tuition reimbursement issues. In Gloucester, they came closer to an agreement on expanded sick leave.
“I was begging them to talk to the mayor and school committee to get these small things out of the way so we could focus on wages after," said Grace Scola, a teacher in Gloucester.
But both communities say what the unions are asking for would require an override.
“To fund this proposal we would have two options either a proposition 2.5 override which would permanently raise taxes or substantial cuts to vital city services," said Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga.
“It would create a $7.5 million shortfall in our existing budget that would require a property tax override," Jenn Schaeffner, chair of Marblehead School Committee, explained.
“If an override fails it would decimate the school system," added in Marblehead town administrator Thatcher Kezer.
Also in Marblehead, two parents are asking a judge to allow extracurricular activities to continue during the strike. Students there are in danger of forfeiting a quarterfinal varsity football game, and there's also a performing arts senior showcase this week.
"We're finding it hard to find out where the obstacles actually lie here. Sadly, the only reason we can come up with is the kids are being used as leverage in the negotiations in some way or fashion," said Jon Wales, the parents of two Marblehead High School students.
The districts have yet to announce if there will be school on Thursday.
