NASHUA — Members of the negotiating committees for the Board of Education and the Nashua Teachers Union came out of their most recent meeting on Wednesday with a long sought-after tentative agreement in their possession.
The sides publicly announced the accomplishment on Thursday in a joint statement issued by BOE president Jennifer Bishop and Teachers Union president Adam Marcoux.
The four-year contract, which will be reviewed by the BOE and put to the Teachers Union membership for a ratification vote, includes salary increases for all teachers that average 4.1% over the duration of the contract, which comes to a total of just over $11.1 million.
Reaching the tentative agreement followed months of negotiations, which, according to the joint statement, began in earnest last September.
“Negotiations have been long,” said Marcoux, the union president. “But I am happy to be part of reaching a tentative agreement with the Board for our teachers.
“They have worked tirelessly during the pandemic and before,” Marcoux added. “I’m glad that we can now turn toward ratification, and that we are moving forward together.”
“We very much value our teachers,” Bishop, the BOE president, said. “And we are pleased we were able to make progress (Wednesday) and come to a sound tentative agreement.”
Added Superintendent of Schools Garth McKinney, “our teachers, nurses, counselors, school psychologists, and many others have been at the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic these last two years, and this agreement recognizes their efforts and honors their work with increased pay, benefits, and support.
“I look for ratification of the agreement as soon as possible,” he added.
It is anticipated that BOE will review the tentative agreement by the end of March, according to the statement.
Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.