In response to reports stating that some educators used unauthorized restraint methods during an incident at Glover Elementary School, the Marblehead Education Association read a statement at Thursday’s School Committee meeting, demanding that the suspended educators be reinstated and safety protocols in the district’s schools be updated. 

“Our colleagues at Glover remain on paid administrative leave due to the administration’s failed practices around student safety protocols,” the statement reads. “The MEA will continue to fight for our educators and for safe working and learning environments for all staff and students. We are demanding that administrators follow the School Committee’s safety policies.”

On Tuesday, interim Superintendent Theresa McGuinness announced that reports from two firms found that “certain educators implemented restraints that were not authorized by law or district policy” when restraining a student on Nov. 20, 2023. 

At a December School Committee meeting, dozens of MEA members attended, with many sharing stories of being physically harmed by students and not receiving the resources or support needed to handle situations involving dysregulated students. 

Despite the district’s director and associate director of student services resigning in early January, the MEA said in the statement that safety policies have not changed or been updated, and that Marblehead schools “lack sufficient staffing and best practices as they apply to current safety procedures.” 

The statement claimed that the educators were placed on leave without just cause, were barred from reviewing footage of the incident until they were suspended, and that multiple requests for plans to support a student were ignored. 

An online petition has also been started by the MEA calling on the School Committee and administration to reinstate the MEA members who remain on leave, work with the union to “develop better, more transparent systems and protocols,” and fully fund Marblehead schools.

The petition also claimed that teachers are being blamed for the school administration’s shortcomings.

“The leadership of the Marblehead Public Schools is failing to provide our students and educators with a safe learning and working environment,” the petition reads. “Now, months after the crisis at Glover School, the administration seems poised to use our colleagues as scapegoats rather than taking responsibility for its own failures.”

By Friday afternoon, the petition had garnered more than 400 signatures.

Going forward, the MEA wants its members to have more of a stake in solving the issues directly related to them.

“The MEA wants educators to be real partners with the School Committee and administration in solving dire problems in our schools,” the statement reads. “Educators bring an expertise and perspective to the conversation that cannot and should not be ignored.”