BEVERLY — The Beverly teachers strike continued on Tuesday, forcing the closure of the city’s public schools after a weekend of failed negotiations.
Union and school officials said the two sides remained far apart on issues such as pay for paraprofessionals and paid parental leave for teachers.
Negotiations were scheduled to continue on Tuesday, the same day that a judge was set to consider holding the teachers union in contempt for the illegal strike.
The strike in Beverly is taking place at the same time as teacher strikes in Marblehead and Gloucester. More than 1,000 people gathered at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester on Monday in a show of support for educators in the three communities.
In an on-line press conference on Monday night, teachers from all three communities blasted school officials and city leaders for failing to come to an agreement. Beverly Teachers Association Co-President Julia Brotherton laid the blame directly on Mayor Mike Cahill.
Brotherton said teachers have been prepared since their strike vote last Thursday to negotiate around the clock. “Instead,” she said, “Mayor Cahill and his School Committee relished the opportunity to punish educators for saying enough is enough. We have had no serious movement on our key issues and it’s Mayor Cahill’s fault.”
Asked to comment on Brotherton’s remarks, Cahill said, “I have worked with my colleagues in city government and school government to make available $24.45 million in new money over three years, perhaps the best contract in city history. The unions continue with their original demand for $14.4 million more than we offered.”
“We need our teachers back in the classroom and our kids learning,” Cahill said.
Brotherton said teachers have reason to believe that management in Beverly, Gloucester and Marblehead are working together to delay settlement of their contracts. She said two of the districts, Beverly and Marblehead, employ the same “anti-union” law firm.
“It seems clear that, on the advice of that firm, all three districts are deliberately stalling to punish educators and to send a message to other workers,” Brotherton said. “This is hurting public school students across the North Shore.”
Beverly special education teacher Caroline Nyada said students are facing a mental health crisis and teachers need more help.
“In my classroom not a day goes by without a physical injury from one or more of my students,” she said. “The paraprofessionals that I work with and I come home daily with bruises and scrapes from the kids whose needs we are struggling to meet due to staffing issues alongside the increased behavioral needs.”
Nyada said many paraprofessionals have left because they can’t afford to stay, and that many positions have remained open long-term “because people won’t accept the job when they find out what the salary is.”
“It is a lie to say that students are getting all of their special education needs met all the time,” she said. “It simply can’t happen when we don’t have sufficient staffing or coverage.”
Beverly teachers went on strike after school last Thursday. Schools were closed on Friday, and negotiations continued over the three-day holiday weekend.
The strike is affecting more than 4,500 students and 650 union teachers and paraprofessionals. It’s the first Beverly teachers strike since 1993.
School Committee negotiators say they have offered significant increases in paraprofessionals’ wages, but teachers say those salaries still amount to “poverty pay.”
Paraprofessionals currently make between $24,944 and $31,070 per year. The School Committee says its latest proposal would boost the top wage for paraprofessionals to $40,054. Paras work 28.75 hours per week for 36 weeks.
Teachers are also seeking 11 weeks of paid parental leave. The School Committee has offered two weeks of leave paid by the district, and the right for teachers to use 10 weeks of accrued sick time.
Beverly Superintendent Suzanne Charochak announced Monday night that there would be no school on Tuesday. She said the district will continue to offer grab-and-go box lunches for students at Beverly High School from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Students who do not attend one of the Beverly Public Schools but rely on district transportation to take them to their school will be picked up and dropped off at their regularly scheduled times, Charochak said. Students who attend the After Dark programs at both Essex Tech and Salem High School will attend their CTE portion of the day as scheduled.
Charochak said she would continue to keep families informed about scheduled school days each evening by 7:30 p.m.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.