Central Regional's Public Hearing On Budget Slated For Thursday Night

The Central Regional Board of Education will hold a public hearing on the 2016-2017 budget at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.

The meeting will be held in the board room at the high school off Forest Hills Parkway in Bayville.

Discussion at the meeting will also likely include the Central Regional Education Association's expired contract.

Several hundred members of the CREA showed up at last month's board meeting to protest the contract impasse.

Both CREA President Michael Mannion and Central Regional Business Administrator Kevin O'Shea said last month they could not go into detail about the impasse in the contract negotiations, since the matter has now gone to the state Public Employment Relations Commission's fact-finding process.

But Mannion did say the problems center around less take-home pay over the past few years and higher contributions to health care.

Word on the street is that the two sides have reached an agreement. Patch will update with more information after the board meeting on Thursday.