After more than 17 months of negotiations and working without contracts, the Haddonfield School District and the Haddonfield Education Association agreed to a tentative contract deal on Friday, Jan. 20.
The HEA members had been working in the district without contracts since June 30, 2010.
Haddonfield Board of Education Member Drew Hansen — also the communications chair for the BOE — sent over the following release around noon on Friday.
“The Haddonfield Board of Education is pleased to announce that it has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with Haddonfield Education Association.
The Board of Education would like to publicly thank the Haddonfield Education Association for all their hard work through this negotiation.
Terms of the agreement are not being released at this time as the agreement is still subject to ratification by both the Board of Education and the members of the Haddonfield Education Association.”
Hansen said no other details could be released until the contracts have been officially ratified.
Both sides have to have their respective members look over and agree to the tentative contract deal before it can be officially ratified, Superintendent Rich Perry said. However, it’s great news for the board, the school district, the HEA members, and the community moving forward, he said.
“We’re excited about it. We’re keeping our fingers crossed. We know it’s been a very long process and we’re very pleased with how the HEA and board worked to come to this tentative agreement,” Perry said. “It will benefit the school district, the HEA, the community and the students for the next few years. We’re pleased with the results.”
Sharon Stokes, president of the HEA, said she could not comment on the tentative agreement until the contracts were officially ratified.
In the first year of working in the district without contracts, the HEA members fully participated in all extra curricular activities in the district. However, this school year Stokes previously encouraged the HEA members to “take care of their family and take care of themselves now.”
Members of the HEA were encouraged to stick to the work hours that their contracts dictate, Stokes said, which are typically 30-minutes before and after the school day. Because of this edict, the 2012 “Back to School Night” program was cancelled.
It’s unknown when the contracts will be ratified, Perry said.
