Barnstable School Committee Approves New ELL Teacher, Invokes Ethics Rule for BTA Talks

BARNSTABLE — March 2, 2022 — Barnstable School Committee invokes a rare ethics rule to resume stalled teacher contract talks and approves a new English language learner teacher position. The committee unanimously invoked the rule of necessity at its March 2 meeting, allowing four conflicted members — Chair Mike Judge, whose wife is a Barnstable Teachers Association member, and members Joe Nystrom, Peter Good, and Andre King, all with current or former BTA ties — to participate in collective bargaining that had been frozen since the November 2021 election changed two seats on the five-member board. The committee also voted 4-0 with one abstention to hire a new ELL teacher at Barnstable United Elementary, where 123 English learner students are now served by just four teachers following a surge of 41 new registrations since September, with salary funded through ESSER III for the remainder of this year. Deputy Director of Finance Gareth Markle presented an initial FY23 operating budget of $76,651,531, a $3.13 million or 4.26 percent increase over FY22, featuring roughly 20 new full-time positions and a $200,000 literacy grant to select a new K-5 reading curriculum by June 30.