By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The Princeton teachers union and the school board are on the verge of a two-year contract extension that ensures labor peace into 2020, the district said this week in touting a "tentative" deal that happened quickly in secret.
Terms of the extension mirror those of the last year of the current contract, with 2.63 percent annual raises and the same health-care contributions. Representatives of the school board and the Princeton Regional Education Association met for about 90 minutes two weeks ago to negotiate, the district said.
"From the beginning, the PREA leadership had expressed its hope of laying the groundwork for smooth and productive contract negotiations," Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane said Wednesday by email. "When I floated the idea of extending the current contract, the PREA leadership was immediately receptive."
"The goal of all parties has been to keep the focus on the positive direction of the district and the important work contained in the strategic plan," he said.
A union leader could not be reached for comment.
"Both sides met again (Tuesday) to work out an agreement regarding the distribution of the increase on the salary guide," Cochrane said in another email. "As of now, we are on track to reach a settlement for our next Board meeting on June 13."
"It’s a done deal," said school board president Patrick Sullivan by phone Wednesday in adding he hoped to reach "final agreement this week if possible." He said he could sign the agreement as soon Wednesday or Thursday.
The PREA rank and file will have to ratify the deal.
The current contract, good through June 2018, was the product of what were protracted and at times messy negotiations that dragged on and led to public demonstrations by the union. By contrast, the extension moved quickly and quietly, in what could be an unprecedented step in contract talks between the Princeton school district and its largest labor union.
"The PREA approached Steve Cochrane about doing this deal, and we were all happy to do it," Sullivan said, "because it’s fair."
"And so rather than spend a lot time going back and forth over the next year, when we all realize there’s a lot of other things that we the board and the teachers need to be focusing on working together," he said, "we just think it’s a great thing to be on the same page, working together and not in a conflict situation."
The extension would go through the 2019-20 school year, Cochrane said.
He said the board possibly might take similar steps in reaching contract extensions with its other labor unions.
"That is a possibility," he said, "but we are taking this one step at a time."
