Board of Education and the Cranbury Education Association are optomistic that an agreement will be reached by month’s end.
By: Josh Appelbaum
The Board of Education and the Cranbury Education Association, which represents 60 teachers and support staff, left last week’s contract negotiations session optimistic that an agreement could be reached by the end of the month.
The two sides met for a mediation session Oct. 7 that lasted until about 1 a.m., and both sides said the tone was positive. The next session is set for Oct. 28.
Steve Baker, the New Jersey Education Association associate director for public relations, said state Public Relations Commission mediator Tom Hartigan imposed a gag order on both sides from discussing the content of negotiations.
Mr. Hartigan was appointed to help both sides reach an agreement on a contract after the CEA filed an impasse in July citing salary and benefits as sticking points. At that time, the association requested the help of a state mediator to negotiate a new three-year contract with the district.
The Cranbury School teachers have been working without a contract since the previous agreement expired July 1.
The Oct. 7 negotiations were the second round of talks following a Sept. 14 mediation session. The school board and CEA said they’re happy with how last week’s meeting went.
"We had a good meeting, we made some progress the next meeting is Oct. 28," Board of Education President Joan Rue said.
Mr. Baker agreed that some progress was made.
"We made some progress, so there was a positive tone both teams stayed until about one o’clock in the morning," Mr. Baker said.
He said the NJEA and the CEA are hopeful about reaching a settlement at the next meeting.
Ms. Rue said last week that both sides agreed not to speak about the specifics of contract negotiations because talks progress more quickly when parties not involved with the issues aren’t a part of the negotiation process.
The union’s previous, expired three-year contract was signed in December 2001. Under that contract, teachers received a 5 percent increase each year over three years and the school district covered the entire cost of employees’ health, prescription and dental plans whether they had single or family coverage.