The teachers strikes in Beverly and Marblehead have moved into new phases of negotiations as the teachers’ strikes in both communities continue at an impasse.

An Essex County judge in a ruling last week gave both communities until Sunday night to reach an agreement. Because they didn’t,
the state’s Employment Relations Board will bring in a third-party for “expedited fact-finding” in Beverly and Marblehead. The process involves a neutral outsider who will make recommendations as a way to speed up negotiations.

Beverly teachers’ union co-president Julia Brotherton said the union is rejecting the intervention and wants to remain at the bargaining table, but the school committee has refused.

“[Fact-finding] very rarely used, it is not effective, what the fact-finder will most likely say is that both sides need to return to the bargaining table. We’re already here,” Brotherton said. “We’re ready, we could open schools tomorrow, they’re so close.”

Higher wages for paraprofessionals or teachers’ aides appear to be the biggest sticking point in the negotiations.

The Beverly School Committee voted to allow the “fact finding” effort. The school committee also voted to begin withholding teacher pay for days not worked as the strike moves into its third week.

“We continued to dig deep, putting more money on the table than ever before, but were consistently told that our offers were not enough,” School Committee President Rachel Abell said in a statement Sunday.

Students in the communities of Beverly and Marblehead entered the third week of missed classes Monday with no deal reached between school officials and teachers unions.

In nearby Gloucester, striking teachers and students returned to their classrooms in Monday after teachers reached a tentative contract agreement Friday.

School Committee Chair Kathy Clancy said the final deal includes salary increases ranging from $13,500 to $29,000 for teachers with a master’s degree. She said that would bring top earners up to $113,000 annually by the end of the contract, and offer seven weeks of paid parental leave.

“These contracts reflect our deep commitment, appreciation and respect for educators and show a great investment in public education in Gloucester,” Clancy said.

Salary increases for paraprofessionals, or teachers’ aides, were one of the greatest points of contentino in the contract negotiations, said Rachel Rex, co-president of the union. Under the new contract, paraprofessionals will see salary their pay increase by $10,000 to $14,000 over the next five years.

“This contract fight was about the working class educators, community members, [and] students, versus those who have the power and wield it to maintain a broken system,” Rex said during a news conference on Friday.. “What this strike proved is that in the face of cruel punishment and immense hardship, the more than 400 educators of the Union of Gloucester Educators had enough power to stand up, fight back and transform this community.”

Strikes by public employees are illegal in Massachusetts, and despite hefty court fines levied against the unions, educators in Beverly and Marblehead remain on the picket line.

In a statement Sunday, the Marblehead school committee said its contract offer included 15 additional days of paid parental leave and a longer morning recess for students. The offer was not accepted, officials said.

Marblehead school committee members left negotiations Sunday evening and were met by teachers, parents and community members who loudly expressed their support for the union at the site of the negotiations.

Whitney Gillett, a second-grade teacher in Marblehead who is also the mother of four children in the school district, thanked parents for their patience and understanding at a news conference in Marblehead Monday morning.

”We are going to do this together,“ she said.