Melrose Educators Vote No Confidence In Mayor, School Committee

MELROSE, MA — Melrose educators this week delivered a new rebuke to Mayor Paul Brodeur and the Melrose School Committee with a vote of no confidence after months of still unsettled contract negotiations.

Teachers and their supporters gathered at City Hall Tuesday night for a rally before a School Committee meeting. Multiple speakers then addressed the School Committee during the public comment portion of its meeting, with Melrose Education Association President Lisa Donovan reading a statement declaring the vote of no confidence.

“Melrose educators are dismayed by the mayor’s obstinance to bridge small gaps in financial proposals and extremely disappointed in the School Committee's lack of forward movement on language that would improve working conditions, and ultimately learning conditions, in our schools,” the Education Association’s statement said.

“Mayor Brodeur’s and the Melrose School Committee’s intransigence and misrepresentation to the community not only disrespects and demeans Melrose’s dedicated educators, but also threatens to undermine the long-term quality of our public schools,” the statement continued.

The School Committee responded with a message on Wednesday morning, saying it "understands the frustration being experienced by the Melrose Education Association."

"[W]e are frustrated too," the committee said, "yet we remain committed to serving our children and families to the highest degree possible within what the district and city can afford."

Melrose’s contracts with its public school teachers and paraprofessionals expired last year.

Parties settled a new agreement with paraprofessionals last month. But negotiations to date have still not produced a deal for teachers.

Melrose School Committee Chair Margaret Driscoll announced on Monday that the district had filed for state mediation with the Department of Labor Relations, requesting a third party to help broker a deal on a new contract.

Donovan, who had previously called the move “disappointing news,” again addressed the push for mediation in the statement she read on Tuesday.

“Walking away from the bargaining table to pursue outside mediation is further evidence of the mayor’s and the school committee’s unwillingness to take responsibility for managing the Melrose Public Schools,” the statement said.

Negotiations in Melrose have included debates over teacher pay and preparation time, among many other items.

The School Committee on Wednesday said it is "committed to the collective bargaining process," adding that it has made "many offers that we consider generous and fair in conjunction with providing accommodations for planning time and much more that mutually benefit both students and staff."

"In a small, almost totally residential city like Melrose, there are always difficult financial choices to be made and many collective bargaining units and non-union employees to compensate," the School Committee said. "Adding to those critical needs are the pressures of skyrocketing special education and transportation expenses, which are not only required, but which we as human beings honor and respect."

Where the School Committee has pointed to offers to date, the union's representatives have said offers haven't gone far enough, highlighting teacher salary data that shows Melrose ranking below many area communities in average pay.

Outside Melrose, protests and prolonged contract negotiations have taken hold in nearby communities including Malden, Medford and Stoneham.

Malden educators went on strike in October before reaching an agreement for a new contract.

Medford teachers delivered a vote of no confidence in Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn and the Medford School Committee early last month before later settling their own negotiations with the School Committee.

Negotiations over education support professional contracts in Stoneham saw the Stoneham School Committee declare an impasse and file for mediation on Dec. 14.

Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page said last month that there has recently been an overall increase in activity in union educator negotiations across Massachusetts. Reasons and specific points of debate vary between individual negotiations. Page, though, said pay, preparation time and district staffing have been common topics. He attributed some of the overall energy in negotiations to a "renewed sense of commitment to making sure the schools have what they need" particularly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on schools, students and educators.

The Melrose School Committee filed its request for mediation with the state on Dec. 22.

The committee's filing documented 20 negotiation sessions regarding teachers contracts, also describing a recent exchange of proposals last month. The committee said the Melrose Education Association shared a proposed agreement on Dec. 7, asking the committee to respond with its best offer. The committee said it responded on Dec. 12.

The committee said the Education Association voted to not ratify the Dec. 12 offer, instead returning a new proposal that the committee said "largely constituted regression" on various negotiation topics. The new proposal, the committee said, moved parties "even farther apart" in negotiations.

The committee said it believes parties have reached an impasse.

Brodeur discussed mediation on Wednesday, calling it a "commonly used tool to bring parties to a favorable resolution when things are challenging, including during the collective bargaining process."

Brodeur said negotiators "will continue to work towards a fair agreement with regard to the compensation of our hardworking teachers while taking into consideration the City’s overall financial needs."

"At the end of the day," he said. "I believe we can all agree that we are committed to doing what is in the best interests of our kids.”