Signs of Progress on Settling the Watertown Teachers Contract

The end of the deadlock over the Watertown teachers contract may be in sight.

The School Committee has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday to ratify a contract, however the teachers union president said this afternoon that there is no agreement.

Debra King, president of the Watertown Educators Association, said she saw the meeting had been scheduled, but neither the union nor school officials have agreed to a contract.

"We do not yet have an MOA (memorandum of agreement)," King said.

While no deal has been reached, King said this is not typical.

"(The School Committee is) meeting tonight in executive session – that's not unusual," King said. "What is a little bit different is [School Committee Chairwoman] Eileen [Hsu-Balzer] posted meeting a meeting for Wednesday to ratify the agreement."

The teachers are in their . A deal was nearly reached in April 2011 when .

The two sides met last week to negotiate, King said. Tonight, the School Committee will have an executive session to discuss negotiations before the regular meeting, at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. 

The special meeting set to ratify an agreement is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the lecture hall at Watertown High School. Afterward, at 7:30 p.m., the Subcommittee on Budget and Finance will meet to discuss the Fiscal 2012 and Fiscal 2013 budgets.