By JOSEPH KELLARD
The apparent settlement follows a long, bitter dispute, and came together after a lengthy mediation meeting last week.
The new contract proposes a 14 percent salary and step increase for teachers, requires teachers to work 15 minutes more each day, and calls for staff development, which requires 10 hours a year from tenured teachers and 20 hours a year from probationary teachers beyond the school day to take courses on professional development.
Following the mediation meeting, negotiators for both the school district and teachers met in four subsequent meetings and devised a new contract that was agreeable to both sides.
We were near agreement after mediation, and the other meetings were to iron out some small pieces, said Superintendent of Oceanside Schools Dr. Herb Brown.
After an agreement was reached, a meeting was held to explain the terms of the contract to the teachers, who cast their ballots the next day, Thursday, Dec. 20.
The teachers passed the contract by more than a majority, said Leslie Krasnoff, president of the Oceanside Federation of Teachers, which represents teaching personnel. I'm very relieved and happy that this is settled. And I think the sign of a good contract is that neither side is totally happy.
The previous contract had expired on July 1, 2001. The board's original contract proposal at that time called for the 14 percent salary increase and step, the raise that teachers in their second year and above receive annually. But it was rejected by the Oceanside Federation of Teachers, in part, over the hours teachers were asked to work.
Krasnoff said the original contract called for an increase of the normal workday for teachers by roughly one half-hour each day, or two-and-a-half hours a week. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herb Brown argued that the contract actually amounted to a reduction in the number of hours teachers work, by one hour a week.
Subsequent proposals by both the board and teacher's union were rejected by the other side, and in September the board declared an impasse. The New York State Board of Education scheduled a mediator to meet with the board and teachers' union in December to encourage a settlement.
The board will publicly vote on the new contract at its next meeting in January, which it is expected to pass, both Krasnoff and Brown said.
I think it's all basically done, and it looks good, Brown said. But until the board ratifies it, it's not technically a done deal. Although I'm very optimistic.
