BREAKING: Haverhill, Malden schools closed Monday, teachers strike – Boston News, Weather, Sports

HAVERHILL, MASS. (WHDH) – School is canceled for Haverhill and Malden students after the school committees and the educators’ associations were each unable to reach a tentative agreement, according to the superintendent Sunday.

Haverhill’s union had a hard deadline of negotiating until 5:00 p.m., by which if they had failed to make an agreement, they would strike on Monday. Malden educators said they were prepared to negotiate into the night, and had made a few key agreements already.

But negotiations ended abruptly around 8:20 p.m., when the school committee left the discussion, requesting mediation from the state.

Malden Public Schools will be closed tomorrow, according to an update on their website. The announcement said there will be “no after-school programs, extracurricular, and athletic practices/games,” though out-of-district students will still be provided transportation.

“All staff should report to work,” the update said.

In her update on the Haverhill Public Schools’ website, Superintendent Margaret Marotta said the day will now serve as a professional development day for all staff. The school committee and union are still in communication, and the negotiating parties will meet again Monday morning at 8:00 a.m.

Students will have to make up the “day of lost learning time” at the end of the school year, Marotta’s update read.

“While some progress was made over the last few days, we are extremely disappointed that union leadership and the Massachusetts Teachers Association has encouraged our teachers to take this illegal action,” the Haverhill Negotiations Subcommittee said in part in their statement on the strike. “The School Committee and the Mass State Labor Board are asking a Salem Superior Court judge to issue an injunction against the union for its illegal strike which would have a devastating effect on the students and families in Haverhill.”

As 7NEWS previously reported, Massachusetts State law prohibits public employees to strike, but teacher strikes have happened in the past. Back in May, Brookline educators made the decision to strike after not reaching an agreement with the union.

The Brookline Educators’ Union, along with unions from Andover, Tewksbury, Somerville, Wellesley, Burlington and Belmont, support the strike.

The Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Teachers Association said in a statement: “In Malden and Haverhill, our members are fighting for the common good. When school committees fail to settle fair contracts, they disrespect not only educators, but also the students and the communities that depend on our public schools. Malden and Haverhill are saying enough is enough.”

The unions said they are asking for higher wages and smaller classroom sizes. The Haverhill School Committee accused the state teacher’s union of hijacking local negotiations for their own agenda, at students’ expense.

“What people don’t realize is, unlike the city of Brookline when they had their strike, Haverhill is an affordable community, ” James Flaherty, grandfather of a Haverhill student said. “We have a lot of low-income families. And as we learned during COVID, there are many children in this city who unfortunately, don’t get proper nutrition at home.”

“There’s still several hours left in this day and we’re committed to getting as much done as we can,” Deb Gesualdo, President of the Malden EA said. “Hopefully we’ll come to an agreement. Nobody wants to go on strike and be on a picket line. Our educators want to be in classrooms, with students, teaching them.”

Since Malden negotiations fell through Sunday night, 14,000 students across both districts will be impacted by the strikes on Monday.

Marotta said the local YMCA and Boys and Girls Club of Greater Haverhill will be open on Monday for children already enrolled in their programming. The schools are also working with Food Services to provide free lunch on Monday and free breakfast on Tuesday to children under 18. More information on which locations will be providing care and food services, as well as pre-registration links, are available in Marotta’s update.

“I am hopeful that this strike will be brief,” Marotta said, “and that we will be back in our classrooms on Tuesday.”

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