Superintendent John Robidoux announced new arrival and dismissal times for Marblehead Public Schools last week, a change intended to streamline schedules for students and families.
The adjustments, presented at Thursday night’s School Committee meeting, will take effect at the start of the school year. Robidoux said the changes are aimed at improving consistency across the district and supporting instructional time.
But the Marblehead Education Association (MEA), which represents the town’s educators, said the decision should have been subject to further bargaining. Union leaders argue that the School Committee had previously acknowledged start and end times as a contractual issue during negotiations.
“This is incredibly disappointing. Educators, students, and families are exhausted by the Marblehead School Committee’s refusal to listen,” said Sally Shevory, MEA co-president and a teacher at Glover Elementary School.
“We offered a fair compromise, yet the Committee chose conflict over collaboration. The result is chaos, disruption, and deeper divisions,” Shevory said.
The MEA said it had proposed allowing changes at Brown and Glover schools to expand recess while delaying other adjustments until contract talks were complete. Instead, the School Committee voted to implement districtwide changes immediately, acting on the advice of its attorneys.
Jonathan Heller, MEA co-president and a teacher at Village School, said the union plans to file an Unfair Labor Practice charge. “Despite the promises of change, the actions of this School Committee show how much work still lies ahead, and we are ready to do that work for the sake of our educators, students, and families,” he said.
The scheduling dispute follows a municipal election earlier this year in which Marblehead voters replaced two incumbents after an 18-day teachers’ strike and a prolonged contract dispute. Union leaders said they had hoped new leadership would ease tensions between the School Committee and educators.
Robidoux confirmed the new times would be in place for the start of the year, but said the district would continue to listen to feedback from educators and families as the changes are implemented.
Brown and Glover Schools’ first bell will take place at 8:05 a.m., with the second at 8:10 a.m. and dismissal at 2:30 p.m.
Village school and MVMS will both start at 7:50 a.m. with the second bell at 7:55 a.m., but MVMS will end its day 15 minutes later than the village school at 2:30 p.m.
Marblehead High will start at 7:45 a.m., with the second bell at 7:50 a.m., and will end at 2:37 p.m.
