A second Massachusetts community reaches a deal with striking teachers

BOSTON (AP) — A second Massachusetts community reached a deal with its striking teachers union Tuesday, leaving just one city left to hammer out a final agreement.

The Marblehead School Committee and the Marblehead Education Association announced that they reached tentative agreements and that employees will be returning to work and schools will reopen on Wednesday, which is an early release day for students ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Both the School Committee and the Association recognize the stress and hardship caused to our students and families during the school closures and we are committed to ensuring that the reopening of our schools will be a positive experience for our students and school community,” officials said in a statement.

On Friday, the Union of Gloucester Educators said in a Facebook post that it had reached a tentative agreement with the Gloucester School Committee for “successor collective bargaining agreements for both the teachers and paraprofessional units.”

Classrooms had remained shuttered earlier Friday in Beverly, Gloucester and Marblehead — three communities north of Boston — marking the end of the second full week that teachers had taken to the picket lines. Teachers in Beverly remain on strike.

The unions voted Nov. 7 to authorize the strikes, which will force schools to hold classes during vacations and weekends to meet the required 180 days of classroom learning required by state law — a situation that any snow days could make worse.

Teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts.

The Beverly Teachers Association has said it is pushing for smaller class sizes in the 4,500-student district, 12 weeks of paid parental leave and a “living wage” for paraprofessionals or teachers assistants whose starting salary is $20,000.

In Gloucester, the union in the 2,800-student district had asked for at least eight weeks of fully paid parental leave. It also wanted significant pay increases for paraprofessionals, safer conditions for students and more prep time for elementary school teachers.

On Nov. 12, judges imposed a fine of $50,000 on the unions in Beverly and Gloucester that they said would increase by $10,000 for every day teachers remained on strike.

Last week, teachers took their protests to the steps of the Massachusetts Statehouse.

Gov. Maura Healey has said her focus is getting students back into the classroom.

“I’m urging both parties to reach an agreement as soon as possible for the good of our kids, families, educators and staff,” Healey said Tuesday.