Teachers picket outside School Committee meeting
By Ken Powers Community Reporter

Westborough - Scores of teachers, unhappy with the stalled negotiations between their union and the Westborough School Committee, picketed outside the Forbes Building prior to the April 30 meeting held there. Those picketing teachers - and others - then crowded into the meeting.

School Committee Chair Rod Jané, before opening the meeting up for public comment, spoke briefly about Superintendent Anne Towle, who was not at the meeting due to a family emergency.

"Dr. Towle has done a terrific job leading the School Department during this very difficult time," Jané said. "She has exceeded the expectations that we placed on her when she came here. She has not only helped keep Westborough's academic excellence at the level it was when she arrived, but she has been the catalyst in raising the bar, if you will."

Although he didn't say so specifically, Jané's comments appeared to be a response to the press release issued by the teachers union April 18, which implied that Towle had lied, been disrespectful and bullied the teachers during the prolonged negotiating process.

Jané said the union's assessments in its release were unfounded and he reiterated on at least two occasions that Towle had the unanimous and unfailing support of the entire School Committee.

Jané said he, the School Committee and the Superintendent believe teachers in Westborough do a terrific job teaching the town's children.

"There is an honest disagreement on the contract and how to settle it," Jané said. "It is nothing more than that, nothing less than that. Both sides want this settlement in a timely manner."

Once the public comment period opened, Bonnie Ross, president of the Westborough Teachers Union and a first-grade teacher at Hastings Elementary School, read a statement and asked the School Committee to return to the negotiating table, even while a fact-finding process is continuing.

"We're frustrated," Ross read from a prepared statement. "We have been working without a contract for 10 months. That is too long. We want this contract settled now."

When Ross was finished speaking, she received a loud and long ovation from the teachers in attendance, many of whom cheered loudly.

"We share the sentiment put forth by Ms. Ross," Jané said. "It's our hope that we keep the lines of communication open during the factfinding process."

Jané confirmed that the two sides have discussed re-opening negotiations, but he said it will require "a serious proposal" from the teachers union to get the School Committee back to the bargaining table.

Teachers rejected the School Committee's threeyear contract off er in October 2007 by a slim margin, in a vote of 162-155. Since then, teachers have been working under their old contract, which expired last June but was extended to June 30 of this year.

During the School Committee meeting, Jané announced that the committee had reached an agreement on a contract with the paraprofessionals union, which is a union of Special Education aides who help students individually and in groups in and outside the classroom.