Marblehead Teachers Union Charges 'Unsafe Working Environment' At Glover Elementary School

MARBLEHEAD, MA — The Marblehead Education Association charged that Glover Elementary School represents an unsafe environment for students and staff and said it will pursue "all possible legal remedies" after four staff members were placed on leave following the restraint of a student this week.

In a letter sent to the Marblehead School Committee and provided to Patch, the union said the staff members were "put on administrative leave unfairly" and that it "stands in solidarity with the affected families and students during this difficult time."

"We believe that the district leadership has failed to take responsibility for their actions," MEA co-presidents Jonathan Heller and Sally Shevory said in an email to Patch on Friday.

Interim Superintendent Theresa McGuinness addressed the incident during Thursday night's School Committee meeting, saying that the district had secured the services of an outside, third-party provider who is an attorney who specializes in education policy for a review of the incident and the district's policies and procedures when it comes to student restraint.

She said she met with the Glover staff both Wednesday and Thursday and allowed that "I have to tell you that (Thursday) felt a lot better in terms of us moving through these challenges together."

In its letter to the School Committee, the union said that "an alarming number of educators at the Glover Elementary School have suffered physical injury caused by the dangerous behaviors of one or more dysregulated students" and that "Marblehead Public Schools have failed to adequately respond or take any appropriate action whatsoever to prevent such incidents and ensure the safety of staff and students at the Glover School.

"Instead, by its inaction, the Marblehead Public Schools has allowed an unsafe working environment to develop at the Glover Elementary School specifically, and, generally, among all the Marblehead Public Schools whose educators are subject to the lack of an adequate protocol for addressing such behaviors among students," the union letter said.

McGuinness agreed on Tuesday that during her one month on the job in the district, it had become clear to her that the district was "lacking in a number of procedures and protocols necessary for a district to run smoothly."

"While continuing to run the district as efficiently and effectively as possible, I along with my leadership team, will be working on revising and creating the necessary protocols and procedures to ensure that we are all on the same page, that our teachers have all that they need for resources and support to ensure an excellent education for all of our students," she said.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)