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The Transition Committee refused to comment on the contract negotiations with teachers in the three schools that make up the new preK-12 regional school district.

Teachers' Union to Mount Greylock: Honor Existing Contracts

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Mount Greylock Educators Association Vice President Marty Walter delivered a statement to the Transition Committee on Thursday evening.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Educators in the regional school district are asking the Transition Committee to honor existing contractual wage increases, which officials have decided to forego as three separate contracts are merged into one.
 
Mount Greylock Educators Association Vice President Marty Walter said the teachers' unions feel it is "unacceptable" not to honor those wages and accused school administrators of being unwilling to negotiate.
 
The Transition Committee, made up of members of the three expiring school committees, has agreed to honor the provisions in the existing contracts, except for the wage increase, according to the union.
 
"There is no reason or merit to freezing every educator's wages pending the completion of one agreement that is built on the contracts currently in place," Walter said during Thursday's Transition Committee meeting in the Mount Greylock Regional School's library. "Combining three contracts into one is not easy work, which is why we believe that your goal of settling a new contract within a six-month timeline was unrealistic from the start."
 
Transition Committee member Chris Dodig is heading the negotiations for the school district but refused to comment on the union's statement. 
 
"We've elected not to discuss the negotiations publicly," Dodig said, repeating that a second time when asked to even confirm whether or not the district has opted to withhold wage increases.
 
A group representing the three former bargaining committees -- one for each school -- started negotiating a contract with the newly formed preK-12 school district in January. The three union contracts have to be merged into one for the entire district and the Transition Committee hoped to get that done by July. Walter, however, said such contracts typically take up to 18 months to reach a settlement. 
 
Walter said that while progress is being made, there is still a lot of work to be done. But he also believes that the administration hasn't been too helpful in reaching a settlement. He said the union has submitted 26 pages of proposals that "have been largely left unanswered."
 
The negotiations are heading to mediation. Walter said both sides have filed with the state and are waiting to hear back. The current contracts of the three schools are set to expire at the end of August for Williamstown Elementary, end of August 2019 for Mount Greylock Regional, and the end of August in 2020 for Lanesborough Elementary, according to Walter.
 
"We agreed with you that these negotiations will benefit from mediation and we are confident that a fair contract can be settled in a timely and efficient manner," Walter said. "Until that new agreement is reached, honor our existing contracts is in keeping with the spirit of this plan to create a strong, unified school district."
 
A team of union members filled the library on Thursday to support Walter's statement to the Transition Committee. The committee heard Walter's remarks before entering an hour and a half executive session that included a discussion regarding the committee's strategy in the negotiations. It is unclear whether the union taking the issue public has made an impact on the committee's stance.
 
Transitioning from three individual teachers' contracts to one districtwide contract is one of the most difficult tasks to complete following the vote of each town to go to a full regional model. 

Tags: contract negotiations,   MGRSD,   teacher contract,   

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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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