Wissahickon School Board, Education Alliance Come to Agreement on Teacher Contracts

The Wissahickon School Board of Directors announced at its recent meeting that a tentative agreement has been reached between the Wissahickon School Board and the Wissahickon Education Alliance.

After 15 months of negotiations, the two parties came to a tentative three-year employment contract that will be voted on in April.

“While the agreement may not have unanimous support of all school board members, the majority of our school board will support the ratification of the contract next month," said board vice president Majorie Brown.

Brown said it took a good deal of time to reach a resolution.

“This will conclude a lengthy negotiation process, one which was hampered by the many budgetary restrictions that districts all over Pennsylvania are facing,” she continued.

Details on the terms of the contract will be discussed at a special board meeting, open to the public, in April, with a date yet to be determined.

After the ratification by both the school board and the Education Alliance, details of the contract will be made available on the school district website, www.wsdweb.org.

“There are always positives and negatives in every situation, and that is certainly the case here, as well. We know that there are members who are in favor of and against this settlement,” said Jim Sando, chief negotiator for the Education Alliance and Wissahickon fifth-grade teacher.

Shawn Esser, of Blue Bell, was surprised to learn that the two parties had reached an agreement, but was concerned, as a taxpayer, that he was not able to see the contract and ask questions on it before the board was to vote on it.

“I’m demanding you post that contract on the site before you vote on it … at least a week ahead of time,” he said.

The negotiations began in the fall of 2009 with early discussions with a few of the administration and a few members of the Education Alliance, explained Sando. By December of 2009, when those discussions did not result in a new contract, formal negotiations began, starting in January of 2010 and lasting up until March of 2011.

The teachers’ contract expired June 30, 2010, but remains in force until both parties sign a new agreement.

“While other school districts without teacher contracts have coped with cancelled after-school clubs, college recommendation letters that were never written, and back-to-school nights where teachers did not show up, Wissahickon teachers were always professional, always committed to their students and, most important, always positive,” said Superintendent Judith Clark.

The tentative agreement will cover July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2013.