Haddonfield BOE Reaches Tentative Agreement with Teachers for New Contract

The Haddonfield Board of Education has reached a tentative contract agreement with borough teachers and other workers in their union.

The agreement was signed on Thursday and announced today, Steve Weinstein, the board president said.  It comes 19 months after the previous contract with the Haddonfield Education Association expired.

Weinstein said both sides have agreed not to talk about the details of the "memorandum of understanding."

"We will not discuss it until the HEA ratifies it and hopefully the board will ratify it at our next board meeting," Weinstein said. "It was one of a series of discussions we've had to clarify a few points over the last few weeks and we were able to finalize everything for the language."

Sharon Stokes, co-president of the HEA, said she expects to have a "yea or nay" vote before the next board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26.

"We're certainly relieved that the process is over," said Stokes, a Latin teacher at Haddonfield Memorial High School. "We appreciate all the support we received from both parents and students during this process. "It's really been helpful to come into school and know we had that kind of support from them."

New Jersey law prohibits teacher strikes, but the HEA made its displeasure known with the length of the negotiation by declining to participate in parent-teacher nights in September and showing up in force at board meetings. Union officials said teachers were not able to volunteer their time for the conferences without a new contract.