Gloucester School Committee shifts 2025-26 school start date, accepts $52,000 in grants

GLOUCESTER -- January 22, 2025, Gloucester School Committee shifts 2025-26 school start date and accepts more than $52,000 in grants as post-strike tensions persist. The committee voted unanimously at its January 22 meeting to move the first day of school for students from September 3 to September 4, 2025, and the last day from June 17 to June 18, a one-day adjustment required by a new collective bargaining provision mandating a professional development day immediately before the school year begins. The board also accepted four Gloucester Education Foundation grants totaling roughly $52,280, covering a district-wide elementary chorus, O'Malley Academy programming, music technology upgrades, and Romeo and Juliet theater workshops with Lane's Cove Theater. Public comment was dominated by Union of Gloucester Educators members pressing for retroactive pay for retired paraprofessionals excluded from the November return-to-work agreement; Chair Annie Glancy read aloud the governing contract clause, signed by UGE co-president Rachel Rex, limiting retroactive pay to members "still employed as of the date of the execution of this agreement." Biology teacher Eric Lee separately told the committee that "hand-washing only" signs had appeared at his classroom sinks months ago with no explanation, that repeated requests for lead-test data had gone unanswered, and that covered water bubblers in the area were found to be visibly contaminated when uncovered. The committee's circuit breaker special education reimbursement balance stands at $466,000, roughly half its typical level at this point in the year.