Board and teachers reach early contract agreement Salary increases will average 4.5 percent per year BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer The Board of Education and the Middletown Township Education Association have a collective bargaining agreement good through June 30, 2011. According to board member Joan Minnuies, this is the earliest the two groups have come to an agreement. They started the process of finalizing a contract in February. "This is the first time in Middletown that a contract has been agreed upon this early," Minnuies said. "The fact that we came together and were working on the contract in February says a lot about both groups." The agreement was passed by the MTEA by a vote of 796-37, which is a 95 percent approval. The Board of Education unanimously voted to pass the agreement at its April 23 meeting. "Negotiations were truly that, negotiations," MTEA president Linda McLaughlin said. "Both sides came to the table ready to get a contract done." Minnuies, who is the chairperson of the negotiations committee, agreed with McLaughlin's assessment. "Both sides came to the table ready for business," Minnuies said. "We came into the room and came away with a contract that both sides could agree upon." According to the new agreement that is fromJuly 1 of this year until June 30, 2011, the board will provide salary increases for certificated bargaining unitmembers by an average of 4.5 percent per year. For the 2008-09 school year, the salary base will be increased by 4.7 percent inclusive of increment costs. In the 2009-10 school year, the increase will be 4.5 percent, with a 4.3 percent increase in 2010-11. With regard to teaching hours and load, the contract makes some provisions. "Building-based professional employees may be required to remain after the end of the regular workday without additional compensation, for the purpose of attending building, faculty or other professionalmeetings no more than nine days each year, scheduled no more than three days in any one month," it states. The meetings may begin no later than 15 minutes after student dismissal time and shall run nomore than 45minutes, except in cases of emergency involving the health and safety of students and/or professional employees. The meeting was also the board's reorganization meeting and saw a new board president being named. Laura Agin moved one seat over from her vice president seat to the president's chair, while former president Dawn Diorio took Agin's seat as vice president. "I want to thank everyone for appointingme president,"Agin said. "I amgoing to do my best to accomplish the district's initiatives. Richard Wright was appointed treasurer of school monies, at an annual salary $10,815. Christopher Parton was reappointed as board attorney and attorney for labor relations/ negotiations at a rate of $130 per hour, or up to $85,000 for each position. WilliamDoering was reappointed secretary to the board, qualified purchasing agent and custodian of school records. The reappointment of the Lucarelli Group as construction manager for the elementary HVAC Project and litigation support from July to October of this year was tabled to a future date. The Lucarelli Group has come under fire in the past year by residents of the township for their work on the High School North football field.