Melrose teachers vote to ratify 3-year contract

Melrose public school teachers are celebrating after ratifying a three-year teacher contract Monday, according to the Melrose Education Association. 

The contract passed with 97% MEA approval, MEA President Lisa Donovan said, and the Melrose School Committee will hold a special meeting to vote on it Thursday. Margaret Driscoll, Melrose school committee chairwoman, told The Boston Globe that the committee is “very pleased” with the contract.

The contract, which promises increased compensation and more time for teachers to prepare for courses, was agreed upon Saturday between the MEA and Melrose Public Schools, MEA tweeted. Donovan said both of these are great feats and called added common planning time “sacred” for teachers.

“That is really where a lot of the magic happens, where we can develop some of our lessons for our students and make sure that our lessons are engaging for our students,” Donovan said.

Contract negotiations between MEA and the school committee, Donovan said, started almost a year ago. MEA was considering a strike to spur the committee to action, but the Saturday agreement diverted it.

If the two groups had not reached a tentative agreement, MEA planned to strike starting Tuesday. The union had also scheduled a rally for Sunday to garner support, which turned into a celebration.

At the event, Donovan reflected on the victory, but noted that there is still more work to be done. In a phone call Monday night, she said she is grateful to those who supported the educators in their cause.

“There was so much support for what we were fighting for, which was a fair contract,” Donovan said. “That was really empowering for us.”

Want to leave a comment?

Create an Account Or sign in to your account

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

To comment, please verify your email address

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com