Teachers at Bay Path haven't sat down face to face with district leaders since last spring, and they've been working without a contract since June 30, according to the union representing them. That message dominated public comment at the Nov. 2 School Committee meeting in Charlton, just a week after the committee voted to back Superintendent-Director Kyle Brenner despite an overwhelming no-confidence vote from teachers.
Union Says Talks Have Stalled for Months
Bay Path Teachers Association President Eileen McNamara told the committee that “the two sides have not met face to face since last spring. The teachers have been without a contract since June 30,” according to MassLive. Several speakers at the meeting, including McNamara, pressed the Southern Worcester County Regional Vocational District School Committee and Brenner to resume contract negotiations. McNamara also showed committee members a calendar marked with possible meeting dates and asked the panel to return to the room, the outlet reported.
Paraprofessionals have been without a contract even longer, dating back to June 2025, and the two sides have exchanged proposals and counterproposals as wages and workplace safety remain unresolved issues, per the same report. The district's current offer for paraprofessionals includes a paid 30-minute lunch and a $9.50-an-hour wage increase phased in over four years. School officials say that increase would raise a paraprofessional's annual pay by roughly 45% to 58%, depending on step. Under the district's own pay table, paraprofessionals with an associate's degree or higher currently earn between $21.75 and $27.08 an hour, while those without a college degree earn between $20.52 and $25.05 an hour.
No-Confidence Vote Follows Years of Friction
The dispute escalated last month when 81% of BPTA members voted no confidence in Brenner on Oct. 15. McNamara described the contract fight as the culmination of six years of conflict and what she called deteriorating treatment by Brenner, who has served as Bay Path's superintendent since 2020. She also criticized Brenner for spending more than $177,000 in legal fees — a figure the BPTA's own release put at over $177,756 — arguing that money could instead have funded a raise for district paraprofessionals. The BPTA further alleged that Brenner refused to negotiate in person and that multiple complaints had been issued by the Department of Labor Relations, according to a BPTA release cited by the outlet. BPTA officials said Brenner's actions led to lower morale, resignations, fiscal irresponsibility, and retaliation against union members.
Not everyone in the Bay Path community agrees with that assessment. Thomas Williams, who has worked as a Bay Path educator for more than two decades, disputed McNamara's position at the meeting, saying the association's statements and conclusions do not necessarily reflect all district teachers' perspectives or experiences. Williams pointed to the school's teacher retention rate of 91.8%, which he said is higher than the statewide rate of 84.4%, and argued that staffing reductions are not inherently evidence of irresponsible management. He also said not all staff share the no-confidence opinion of Brenner, noting Bay Path's health insurance costs rose 35% last year and another 15% this year — cost pressures he suggested complicate the bargaining picture. McNamara, for her part, acknowledged the no-confidence vote was not unanimous but said the BPTA still represents a wide majority of faculty. Two Bay Path teachers reportedly withdrew their BPTA membership after submitting letters supporting Brenner and the School Committee.
Committee Backs Superintendent Amid Police Incident
The School Committee voted on Oct. 26 to support Brenner, describing the no-confidence vote as not a surprise and a common step during bargaining, per the report. Brenner thanked the committee for its support. That vote came after a tense Oct. 5 meeting at which Brenner called police to remove parents, alumni, and teachers from the room; the school said in a release that attendees left when officers asked and that no one was arrested. The committee went on to vote that night to enter closed session on collective bargaining. Notably, the Oct. 5 meeting agenda did not include public comment, while the Nov. 2 agenda did, allowing McNamara and other speakers to address the committee directly.
Robin Fedora, a former Bay Path special education teacher, told the committee that previous superintendents were not as contentious as Brenner and suggested that two Bay Path staff members who are already licensed as superintendents could take the reins instead. The BPTA has also criticized the School Committee for what it characterized as a failure to support teachers throughout the dispute.
State Process Still Pending
Outside the committee room, the fight is also playing out through state labor channels. The school district petitioned the state's Division of Labor Relations for mediation and fact-finding on Sept. 24, and that petition remains pending, according to MassLive's report. Separately, the union filed a charge in August alleging the district bargained in bad faith, and the Division of Labor Relations is scheduled to investigate that charge on Dec. 3.
Under Massachusetts law, public employers and a union's exclusive bargaining representative are required to meet at reasonable times and negotiate in good faith over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, according to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 150E, Section 6. That same statute makes clear the duty to bargain does not require either side to accept a proposal or make a concession — a distinction that leaves plenty of room for the standoff in Charlton to continue even as both sides await the state's involvement.
