Bedford School District, Teachers Association at Contract Negotiation Impasse

Bedford, NY — The Bedford Central School District Board of Education and the Bedford Teachers Association announced that they are at an impasse in new contract negotiations.

The current contract expires Thursday, June 30. And the next step is a mediator.

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According to a statement posted on the school district’s website, under New York State law, the terms of the current contract will remain in effect after its expiration date until a new contract is agreed upon.

The Bedford Teachers Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Negotiations for a new contract began February 4, 2016. The board said there have been 10 formal sessions as well as additional informal meetings and conversations. A mediator was present at one session.

The breakdown in negotiations comes on the heels of the approval of a $126.8 million budget that will see the elimination of more than 50 full-time positions.

Proposals by the school district included changes to health insurance, such as increasing co-pays for doctor visits and extending the $400 deductible to in-network care.

The district is also seeking to have teachers pay more toward their insurance premiums.

Regarding salaries, the district wants the teachers to limit automatic increases to the rate of inflation or to the state tax cap.

“At the moment, we cannot afford any salary increases beyond what the contract requires,” the board statement said, “in fact, we can’t even afford that.”

The board statement characterized the teachers association response as unwilling to agree to any contract that “ends up costing the district less money than the contract we have now.”

For all the reasons outlined in the board statement, both sides agreed they were at an impasse, the board said.

The next step is for the Public Employment Relations Board to assign a mediator to try to facilitate an agreement.

Board officials said the mediation will likely happen in the fall.

Photo credit: Bedford Central School District.