State mediator enters Mid’town teacher talks By Alison Granito Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN — Members of the school district’s largest union and Board of Education officials held their first session under the direction of a state mediator on Thursday. The Middletown Township Education Association (MTEA) and the Board of Education decided to bring in a state mediator, after progress in the negotiation of a new contract for teachers and support staff stalled earlier this month. According to Patricia Walsh, president of the Board of Education, both groups met with mediator Lorraine Tesauro from the state’s Public Employment Relations Commission. Walsh, who was not present, said that most of that meeting was spent with the mediator explaining the ground rules to both sides before meeting with the MTEA. The next session with the mediator is scheduled for Aug. 16. Contracts for the 980-member MTEA, which took a strike-authorization vote earlier this month, expired on June 30. MTEA members went on a three-day strike in September 1998 before the last round of negotiations came to an end. MTEA President Diane Swaim previously told the Independent that teachers will not go back to work Sept. 4 as scheduled without a contract in place. Students are set to return to school Sept. 6. "This board is committed to negotiating a fair settlement," Walsh said Monday. While board representatives have declined to speak about the specifics of negotiations, Swaim has said that the MTEA is requesting a 4.35 percent annual increase in pay for teachers, a figure less than other settlements around the state which have been 5 percent in some cases. Additional sticking points for the teachers have been the amount of contributions by teachers to their health benefits and amount of work time said Swaim. In April, voters defeated the district’s $104.7 million budget, consequently, $1.1 million in cuts were made to the budget by the Township Committee in May. School officials said that the teacher settlement will be negotiated with the district’s budgetary constraints in mind. The budget provides for a 3.5 percent increase for teachers. Swaim could not be reached for comment about last week’s negotiation session.