Ramsey Teachers, Board Reach 'Tentative' Agreement On Contract Negotiations

Years of contentious teachers contract negotiations in the Ramsey School District may be coming to an end, as members of the Ramsey Board of Education and Ramsey Teachers Association reached a “tentative agreement,” Thursday night, Board member and Negotiations Committee member Richard Muti said Friday.

“We had a seven hour marathon meeting, and at the end of it we came out with a tentative agreement,” Muti said. He added that the deal is “not finalized,” and that there are “one or two more issues that need to be resolved.”

Still, Muti said he is hopeful that the agreement will be accepted by both the teachers’ union and the BOE by the end of September.

Muti anticipates the RTA membership will vote on the deal on or around September 7, and the Board at its September 20 public meeting.

At that meeting, Muti said “there should be a full presentation on the terms of the agreement by both the board and the union members…so the public understands all of the parameters.” He added that he expects “a large crowd,” for that public presentation.

Specific details of the tentative agreement will not be released until it is ratified by the union membership, Muti said.

Muti originally announced the agreement in an e-mail blast sent out late Thursday night.

RTA President Rich Romains said he "can confirm that a tentative settlement has been reached between the parties," but could not elaborate any further.

Romains said he understood after Thursday's meeting, "that the two parties were going to send out a joint announcement about the negotiations...If things don't fall apart, there should be an announcement likely sometime next week."

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