BEVERLY, MASS. (WHDH) - Friday marked two full school weeks of missed classes for students in Beverly and Gloucester and nine days for Marblehead learners.
Striking teachers in the three North Shore communities were issued a court-ordered deadline to reach an agreement with school committees before Monday. Gloucester educators announced a tentative agreement to end their strike Friday.
Judge Janice Howe suspended fines for Friday if classes in striking communities are back in session Monday morning. If agreements aren’t reached in Beverly and Marblehead, an outside mediator will be called in to break the negotiation stalemate and the fines will resume, stretching into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In Beverly, the school committee said it made a four-year contract offer to the teachers union. The union made a counter offer, which was rejected by the committee.
In Marblehead, which is on day nine of missed classes, the two sides remain divided in negotiations.
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