2nd contract wins approval.
By: Josh Appelbaum
The Board of Education ratified a three-year teacher contract Tuesday, even though it may not be binding on future school boards.
The board agreed in late December to two separate agreements with the Cranbury Education Association, settling a nearly six-month contract impasse. The union, which represents 60 teachers and support staff at the Cranbury School, ratified both deals Jan. 6.
The school board, however, ratified only the first of the two agreements, a one-year contract covering the 2004-2005 school year. It withheld ratification of the second deal, a three-year deal calling for annual pay hikes of 5 percent, because it was concerned that it would not be binding on future school boards under state law.
School board President Joan Rue said the board voted Tuesday night to ratify the second contract even though it will require another endorsement vote after a new board is organized in April to allay any fears that the union may have had about the board’s actions last week. The board voted after consulting with its and the New Jersey School Boards Association.
"The current board is committed to the agreement and we’ve assured the teachers we are behind what we affirmed with the union," Ms. Rue said.
Union President Tom Stinson said union members were initially disappointed, but were confident the school board would reaffirm the agreement in April.
"It’s not in their interest for them not to pass it," he said. "The board has assured us that it will pass."
The one-year deal, which is retroactive to July 1, calls for a 4 percent salary increase. The three-year contract, which runs from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2008, calls for annual pay increases of percent.

