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Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal | Education
The state-run School for the Deaf will open Tuesday as scheduled, thanks to a tentative agreement reached early yesterday between the school's 41 teachers and its board of trustees.
"We reached a tentative agreement at about 1:30 this morning and the teachers are at orientation today," said Mark Gursky, chairman of the board of trustees. "The talks were productive and I thought negotiations went just as well as we would expect them to go when there are difficult issues to address."
Gursky declined to specify what the key issues were, saying the new contract needs to be ratified first by the teachers' union.
In their old contract, teachers at the School for the Deaf did not pay a portion of their health-insurance premiums, as do many other teacher unions in the state.
Robert A. Walsh Jr., executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, the union that represents the teachers at the school, said the membership had a long meeting the day before the agreement was reached.
"I wouldn't expect any problems on either side," Walsh said of the tentative agreement.
Gursky said the teachers will meet Sept. 7 to ratify the new three-year contract and that the trustees will meet to approve it Sept. 12.
The current contract expired yesterday. Teachers did not attend a professional development day Wednesday, but that day will be made up during the school year, Walsh said.
The School for the Deaf has about 105 students, ages 3 to 21.
The state-run School for the Deaf will open Tuesday as scheduled, thanks to a tentative agreement reached early yesterday between the school's 41 teachers and its board of trustees.
"We reached a tentative agreement at about 1:30 this morning and the teachers are at orientation today," said Mark Gursky, chairman of the board of trustees. "The talks were productive and I thought negotiations went just as well as we would expect them to go when there are difficult issues to address."
Gursky declined to specify what the key issues were, saying the new contract needs to be ratified first by the teachers' union.
In their old contract, teachers at the School for the Deaf did not pay a portion of their health-insurance premiums, as do many other teacher unions in the state.
Robert A. Walsh Jr., executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island, the union that represents the teachers at the school, said the membership had a long meeting the day before the agreement was reached.
"I wouldn't expect any problems on either side," Walsh said of the tentative agreement.
Gursky said the teachers will meet Sept. 7 to ratify the new three-year contract and that the trustees will meet to approve it Sept. 12.
The current contract expired yesterday. Teachers did not attend a professional development day Wednesday, but that day will be made up during the school year, Walsh said.
The School for the Deaf has about 105 students, ages 3 to 21.