Fall River School Committee members commit to attend December 16 bargaining session after teacher exodus warnings

FALL RIVER -- December 9, 2024, Fall River educators flood School Committee meeting with warnings of resignations and student service failures. Eight current teachers and staff appeared at the December 9 School Committee meeting, with at least two announcing they are leaving the district mid-year, citing salaries starting at $48,000, a figure one speaker compared to a Chick-fil-A assistant manager posting advertising $65,000 to start. Speech-language pathologist Deanna Branson told the committee she wrote 300 letters last school year notifying families their children were not receiving IEP-mandated speech services, and counted more than 170 students who would not receive related services in the current week alone, with 30 open special education positions unfilled. FREA President Keith Michon called on the committee to "make a serious effort to settle all contracts before the new year." Mayor Paul Coogan and Vice Chair Paul Corey committed to attend the next bargaining session on December 16. Separately, the committee learned that four elementary school playground projects ran $700,000 over budget, consuming funds intended for renovation of the PACE building and delaying a pre-K expansion the committee was promised in early 2024.