UPDATE: Ridgewood Teachers Union, Board Of Education Reach 'Tentative' Agreement

RIDGEWOOD, N.J. — The Board of Education and the union representing the district's hundreds of employees reached a "tentative" agreement on a new three-year contract early Tuesday morning, ending a 15-month-long negotiation between the two parties.

The Board and union signed a Memorandum of Agreement at 12:15 a.m. on a three-year contract through June 30, 2018, the district said in a statement. The terms of the agreement, which were not disclosed, will be released after the Ridgewood Education Association ratifies the contract and the Board approves it. The contract's start date is July 1, 2015, the date it was originally supposed to go into effect.

The previous contract between the union and Board expired June 30, 2015 — 440 days ago.

The Ridgewood Education Association posted about the agreement on its Twitter page at about 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Union President Michael Yannone said the next step is to create salary guides that both sides can agree upon. Once they are, the union will hold a ratification meeting.

Superintendent Daniel Fishbein said in a Twitter post Tuesday morning that, "both sides deserve credit for their resolve to settle this contract and move forward."

The union and Board of Education met four times with Tim Huntley, a state-appointed super conciliator throughout the 19-month-long contract dispute.

The sides disagreed for months on salary increases and how much union members should contribute to their health insurance. The Board proposed salary increases of 1.1, 2.8, and 2.8 percent over the next three years. And switching from from an NJ Direct 10 to an NJ Direct 15 plan, which would cause members' co-pays to increase, would save the district more than $1.1 million over the next three years based on the current rates.

Dozens of union members wore red and rallied outside the board's office on Cottage Place before a meeting between the board, union, and Huntley Sept. 6.

The parties made "progress" towards a settlement following that 10-hour meeting.

Yannone said after the meeting that the union wanted to keep the NJ Direct 10 plan and, "get some reduction in the high cost of health care contributions."

At a meeting in May, Huntley said that the sides would begin working on the next three-year contract, from 2018 to 2021, once the impasse on the current deal was overcome.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Related: Despite 'Progress,' No New Contract For Ridgewood Teachers Union

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