It took eight months and 18 days, but the fight is over.
The Northvale School District has reached a settlement with its teachers. Approved last week, the agreement outlines teacher contract terms for the next three years.
Northvale Education Association members, which includes the K-8 teachers, have been working without a new contract since July 2007.
"I really think that this is the best we can do where it is right now," said school board member Elise Winans.
Under the new agreement, teachers will receive a total 13.25 percent salary increase: 4.48 percent this year, 4.47 percent next year and 4.3 percent the following year. Teachers will receive retroactive pay for the 2007-2008 school year.
The agreement calls for an increase in tuition reimbursement and the tuition fund, while health benefits go unchanged.
An extra 10 minutes of class time will be tacked onto the school day. Students will finish classes at 3 p.m., although teachers will remain in school until 3:20 p.m. on all days except Mondays.
School board members had claimed that the added 10 minutes would bring the school to the state average in instruction time.
"Right now, both sides feel that they lost and both sides feel that they won," said Superintendent Sylvan Hershey.
Both parties spent nearly a year under negotiation talks that culminated in an impasse fact-finding session Feb. 28.
Dianne Santoro, NEA negotiations chairperson, disagreed with Board of Education President Brian Lent on the average salary increase listed for the county. While Lent said that 4.39 percent was the actual county average, NEA negotiations chairperson Dianne Santoro asked for a minimum 4.6 percent increase.
"We just want to be equal," said Santoro, at a March 3 meeting. "We’re not asking for more."
The school board unanimously ratified the agreement March 18 in front of a sparsely populated auditorium.
In the months leading up to the settlement, teachers sat in silent protest at school board meetings. Teachers showed solidarity by wearing black shirts with blue and yellow pins on Fridays and they picketed outside of school on Thursday mornings before the start of classes.
Winans said that her main concern is whether the school can sustain the pay increase in light of rising costs and budget constraints.
"Is there a possibility that we’re going to suffer in other areas to meet this?" asked Winans, before pointing to a 25 percent markup in benefits last year.
"Yes," she said.
E-mail: gonzalezso@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6711
