By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The Princeton school board and the teachers union announced Thursday that they reached terms on a new contract that both sides still need to ratify.
School board president Andrea Spalla and Princeton Regional Education Association president Joanne Ryan issued a joint statement saying that their respective negotiation teams had signed “a memorandum of agreement for a successor contract.”
“Further details of the new contract will be published once the PREA membership and the Board of Education have voted to approve the new agreement,” the statement read.
Ms. Spalla said in a phone interview Friday that the key financial issues — salary and benefits — had been resolved about a week ago.
She said the board would vote to approve the contract after the union membership ratifies the deal, a typical process. The school board is due have its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, when, perhaps, a board vote could take place.
Ms. Ryan did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Thursday’s announcement ended a long stalemate that saw salaries and health benefits as major sticking points during negotiations that lasted about a year. The teachers’ old deal expired at the end of June 2014.
The union was looking to have its roughly 370 members contribute less to their health benefits.
As the stalemate dragged on, students even got involved by staging a walkout at Princeton High School in April as a show of solidarity with their teachers. Yet in recent weeks, there appeared to be signs of progress as the two sides had marathon negotiation sessions to try and get a deal done before schools went on summer break.
“We are eager to move forward together to provide the very best educational experiences for our community’s children,” read the joint statement from Ms. Spalla and Ms. Ryan.
“Both the PREA and the Board of Education are grateful for the patience and support of the entire Princeton community and we look forward to continuing to serve you,” their statement read.
