Haverhill Public Schools to stay closed on Wednesday as teacher strike continues

HAVERHILL — There will be no school for the third day in a row in Haverhill on Wednesday, after negotiations between the teachers union and the school committee stalled Tuesday evening.

 An Essex Court judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering striking teachers to cease and desist. The judge said if they continue, they will have to be held in contempt of court.  

“There’s no place that any of us would rather be than in that building, working with our students,” said Sarah Gaubin, a teacher on the bargaining team. 

“I don’t feel good about not being at work today,” said Megan Arivella, who’s been an educator for 23 years. “It’s uncomfortable. It’s awkward. It provokes anxiety financially and socially, but I have to do what I’m here for, work for the children of the city.”      

Lawyers for the teacher’s union tried to fight back against Monday’s court injunction that ordered the teachers back to work. 

Gaubin felt the school committee’s legal action set negotiations a step back.   

“They kind of stalled a little bit last night but I remain hopeful that we’ll reach an agreement,” said Paul Magliocchetti from the school committee. 

It appeared Monday that teachers’ salaries were a sticking point: the average Haverhill teacher makes $74,300, about $10,000 less than the state average. But on Tuesday, both sides said finances were not the focal point.

“I think we’re there, financially, and that’s really the crux of negotiations, it’s about finances and it’s about pay,” Magliocchetti told WBZ-TV. 

“It’s not about the money,” Gaubin added. “It’s about student and worker safety. It’s about racial equity in the district.”

According to Magliocchetti, “nothing that [teachers] have put on the table as a proposal, with regard to student safety or diversity, is anything that we can on the school committee side, or even the teachers. That needs to be legislated and that’s the issue.” 

Teachers said they will stay on strike until a new contract deal is reached. 

“I don’t believe that’s setting a good example, to thumb your nose at the law,” said Magliocchetti. 

Meanwhile Haverhill mother Kelly Hochmuth has sent her kids to daycare. She spent Tuesday thinking about her son, who has autism and receives extra support at school. 

“It’s absolutely paramount that the school committee and the mayor come to the table and they get it done,” said Hochmuth.