Teachers Union Agrees on Tentative Contract

Montclair's teachers union agreed to a tentative contract agreement early Wednesday morning.

The Montclair Board of Education and Superintendent Penny MacCormack released a statement announcing the district and Montclair Education Association have reached an agreement for a preliminary contract. The two sides worked through Tuesday night and found common ground on a contract around 4 a.m. that morning.

"Both parties worked in good faith well into the night to reach a tentative agreement we all believe recognize the hard work and contributions of District staff and serve the educational needs of our students in a fiscally responsible manner," said a district press release.  

The union will now vote to ratify or reject the contract. The union is made up of more than 1,000 members. 

Montclair Education Association President Gayl Shepard said Wednesday morning she had yet to speak with union membership about the agreement, and had no comment. 

"We are actually not commenting on [the tentative contract] because it is not ratified yet," said Shepard. 

She added the union has not determined when it will vote on the contract. 

If the contract is approved by the teachers union, it will be retroactive to 2012 and continue until 2015. 

The union's previous three-year contract ended in June 2011.

Negotiations came to a halt on Feb. 21 when the Board of Education filed for an impasse with the state’s Public Employee Relations Commission. Soon after, hundreds of union members crowded into a tense and often raucous meeting in which union officials said teachers would begin working to contract, where members refuse to volunteer any additional time outside of their paid hours.

In response, the board issued statements accusing the union of demanding excessive salary increases and an unsustainable contract for Montclair taxpayers. 

The union's work to contract ended a week later at the beginning of March as contract negotiations resumed.