'Productive' Marblehead Teacher Negotiations: School Committee Chair

MARBLEHEAD, MA — A succession of rocky bargaining sessions and rhetoric that threatened to lead to a summer without negotiations on contracts set to expire in August met an apparent thaw on Tuesday after School Committee Chair Sarah Fox termed the latest meeting "productive."

"Both parties agreed there is room for improvement to benefit some students requiring additional supports," Fox said in a statement to Patch Tuesday night.

She said that the Marblehead Education Association and Bargaining Subcommittee exchanged wage proposals. She told Patch on Monday night that Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer would be present for this round of negotiations.

After Fox said following the last session on June 3 that the MEA had refused to schedule additional bargaining sessions this summer, that appeared to change this week.

"Today's bargaining session came to a close after both parties agreed to schedule multiple bargaining sessions over the summer," Fox said. "The Subcommittee continues to be open to schedule more dates in hopes of coming to an agreement for all employees."

Marblehead teachers had planned a standout, march and rally prior to and during Tuesday's bargaining session.

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