Dear Members of the WPS Community,
We wanted to send you a brief update on the status of the School Committee’s negotiations with the Wellesley Educators Association (WEA). Late Friday afternoon, January 27, we received a letter from the Department of Labor Relations (DLR) regarding the petition to enter mediation that was filed with the state more than six weeks ago by the School Committee.
The DLR has informed both the School Committee and the WEA that, while the DLR is retaining the authority to assist our negotiations, they have directed both parties to schedule additional bargaining sessions to further clarify – and hopefully narrow – the scope of outstanding issues prior to a potential start of mediation at the end of February.
We look forward to resuming bargaining sessions with the WEA as soon as possible and are hopeful that we can make further progress before reporting back to the DLR at the end of next month.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to reaching an agreement that is fair and equitable to our educators and staff while also working within the Town’s budget parameters and providing the best education to Wellesley students.
Sincerely,
Linda Chow and Catherine Mirick
Members of the Wellesley School Committee bargaining team