Settlement Reached Between District, Teachers

After more than a year of negotiations, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education and have reached a settlement in their contract negotiations.

Details on the settlement itself have not yet been released.

"The BOE and B-REA negotiating teams have reached a tentative agreement that is subject to the ratification by the members and the board and subject to certain other things," said Evan Lerner, president of the board of education. "The fact finder has requested that we do not disclose the terms of the tentative agreement at present."

"We're very pleased to have been able to come together and settle the contract," added Steve Beatty, B-REA president. "We will present it to our members as soon as possible, but can't go into any detail on the specifics as per the requirement from the fact-finder."

The members of the union have been working without a contract for more than a year, after the contract expired in June 2011. The two entities declared impasse and began mediation in December 2011.

When three mediation sessions failed to produce a contract, the , holding a first session in July, and a second Thursday, when the settlement was reached.

Negotiations were focused during the year on three issues—salaries, health insurance and length of the workday.

Teachers and parents have been coming out to board of education meetings for the past few months to implore the entities to come to a final agreement.