Melrose Teachers' Hopes Dealt Critical Blow As Charges Dismissed

MELROSE, MA — A state arbitrator has dismissed the teachers' union's charges that the district violated an agreement to return to fully remote learning if coronavirus metrics worsened, dealing a critical blow to the union's last-ditch efforts to revert to mostly online learning during the pandemic.

The Melrose Education Association's charge that Melrose Public Schools changed a memorandum of agreement was also dismissed.

With districtwide testing on the horizon, a sharp decrease in cases and more vaccines being administered by the day, the ruling appears to strip any remaining momentum the union had in its months-long effort to pause in-person learning.

At the core of the argument is the memorandum of agreement, which was reached in September before most students started in-person learning. The union contends the agreement says a rise in certain local coronavirus metrics, specifically the positive test rate reaching 2 percent, should trigger an automatic switch to online learning.

The School Committee says the agreement does not require closing classrooms, but rather gives Superintendent Julie Kukenberger discretion on whether to switch learning models after consulting local health officials.

Department of Labor Relations investigator Gail Sorokoff didn't rule on which interpretation was correct, saying the language in the agreement was "ambiguous and internally inconsistent."

But Sorokoff said that point is moot, since the decision of whether to switch learning models isn't one that could be collectively bargained.

"Some managerial decisions cannot be delegated by public employers or be made the subject of collective bargaining," Sorokoff wrote.

When the positive test rate ballooned past 2 percent and nearly all other metrics significantly worsened, schools stayed open except for a one-week testing program Kukenberger instituted coming out of the winter break.

The union also argued Kukenberger took it upon herself to change the agreement, pointing to her twice stating something to the effect that she would only shut down in-person learning if the state directed her to. Kukenberger said her words were taken out of context, meaning instead it would take an emergency similar to the state's March decision to close schools for all students, including high-needs ones who have particular difficulty learning remotely.

Sorokoff didn't make a decision on what Kukenberger meant, but again rendered it moot since the agreement itself was never changed. Sorokoff also said that while schools didn't close when the metrics increased, there is no evidence that Kukenberger's decision to remain open had anything to do with the state, and Kukenberger also decided to close schools for one week in January without the state's directive.

The union had officially asked Kukenberger to revert to online learning as early as Dec. 11, though sources have said that had been its hope since before the school year started.

The dismissal of the charges seems to extinguish the union's hope of closing schools, though the pandemic has often had the last say on such matters.

The School Committee last week also announced it had denied the union's grievance on grounds similar to the charges it levied against the district.

Related

• With Teachers Hesitant To Return, Melrose Schools Starting Remote
• Schools' Unsafe Policies, Buildings Cause Unease: Teachers
• Melrose Teachers Call For Continued Remote Learning Until Testing

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook