Union delivers no confidence vote in Gill-Montague school superintendent

Members of the Gill-Montague Regional School District teachers union, Gill-Montague Education Association (GMEA), listening to GMEA President Heidi Schmidt deliver a public statement on a vote of no-confidence in Superintendent Brian Beck made by the union on Dec. 13 during Tuesday’s School Committee meeting. STAFF PHOTO/ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN
Published: 12-18-2024 4:07 PM
Modified: 12-18-2024 5:25 PM |
TURNERS FALLS — The Gill-Montague Education Association (GMEA) announced to the School Committee on Tuesday that it has taken a vote of no-confidence in Gill-Montague Regional School District Superintendent Brian Beck, as well as Heath Cummings, the school’s director of facilities and energy.
GMEA President Heidi Schmidt was joined by around 15 other members of the union who gathered just after 6:30 p.m. in the School Committee meeting room at Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School to relay news of Dec. 13 vote, citing several ongoing concerns unrelated to labor issues.
“The concern cited by the membership regarding Brian Beck includes matters of communication, management, leadership and a safe working environment based on comprehensive data collection,” Schmidt stated to the committee.
In an interview Wednesday, Schmidt, said 90% of union members voted no-confidence in Beck and and 91% for Cummings. Currently, there are 181 union members, 166 of whom voted in favor of a no-confidence vote for Beck. Nine members voted no and there were six abstentions or absent voters, which counted as no votes.
Beck declined to comment on the matter when contacted Wednesday. Cummings could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
In her remarks to the School Committee, Schmidt provided more details on the union’s expectations of Beck, including more communication and accessibility for staff and families, prioritizing staff concerns to make sure the learning environment is safe, accountability in the school management hierarchy, timely decision making, student engagement and more.
Schmidt cited no specific incidents or events that acted as a catalyst for the vote. Rather, she provided an overview of ongoing concerns by members of the union who represent all three elementary schools, Great Falls Middle School, Turners Falls High School and central office staff. Both Unit A and Unit C staff, who are teachers and licensed staff, and education support professionals respectively, participated in the vote after qualitative and quantitative surveys from the executive board of the union were sent to members for feedback. The union representing cafeteria and maintenance workers were not involved in the vote.
Schmidt told the School Committee the decision to announce the vote of no-confidence “was not made lightly or with haste.” She explained the issues were brought forward due to unresolved ongoing concerns over several years.
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Beck did not respond in the meeting to the announcement of the union’s vote. Asked about the mention of Cummings in the meeting, Schmidt said she could not comment on the nature of the vote.
School Committee Chair Jane Oakes responded to Schmidt’s remarks, saying she was “surprised and a little disappointed” the issue was brought to the committee in a public meeting, rather than having members notified of the issue beforehand.
On Wednesday, Schmidt explained that she spoke to Oakes briefly before the meeting to let her know of the plans to share a vote of no-confidence during public participation. Schmidt clarified this vote was independent of collective bargaining or labor concerns within the union. Schmidt said the union went to the School Committee because of a lack of structure in place, such as a joint labor management committee or school council, to bring forward concerns unrelated to labor issues in the district.
“We care for the kids, we care for the quality of education, we care about the state of the school and we care about the educational environment,” Schmidt said. “We have really only this mechanism of vote of no-confidence to raise awareness, and hopefully get change to happen, because officially, that is the only thing that we have in our lane.”
Schmidt said the union’s vote was not a call for Beck’s resignation. She indicated the union wants to work with the School Committee on this issue going forward, and hopes to see a resolution.
The GMEA is not the only union to bring forward a vote of no-confidence this year. In Franklin County, GCC Professional Association in June took a vote of no-confidence in Greenfield Community College President Michelle Schutt and Provost Chet Jordan.
In Hampshire County, unions representing the Northampton Public Schools, South Hadley Public Schools and Ware Public Schools announced votes of no-confidence, and UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes had a vote of no-confidence from the UMass Student Government Association following pro-Palestinian protests that resulted in the arrest of student protesters.
A recording of the full Dec. 17 School Committee meeting is available on the Montague Community Television website at https://montaguetv.org/.
Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.