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Central Greene teachers make ‘substantial progress’ on contract negotiations

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WAYNESBURG – The Central Greene teachers’ union president said they made “substantial progress” during a Thursday night negotiating session with the district, meaning teachers could vote on a new contract next week.

Union president Melissa Wilson said both sides met for nearly seven hours Thursday before shaking hands on a verbal agreement about 11 p.m.

She said union members will review the contract over the next few days and are expected to ratify the agreement Tuesday.

“Until both parties have signed on the dotted line and vote yes, I’m hesitant to say that we’ve come to an agreement,” she said Friday.

Wilson said the union will vote on the potential contract at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday and the board is expected to vote later that night at its monthly workshop meeting.

Andrew Corfont, president of the school board, and Superintendent Brian Uplinger could not be reached for comment Friday.

The teachers have been without a contract since last summer. The union approved a tentative agreement in March, which was an offer from the board’s two-person bargaining team. However, the board rejected that agreement with a 7-2 vote.

Wilson said if that happens again, the teachers are prepared to strike.

“We just want to be able to teach and not have to focus on these other things that have taken up so much of our time,” she said.

The verbal agreement is not the same as the tentative agreement from March, she said, but it is a contract “we believe our membership would vote yes to.”

The progress comes just days after speculation about the teachers possibly authorizing a strike. Wilson said she believes the possibility of a strike next week “was a turning point” in negotiations.

“Our hands were at the point where they were tied if they weren’t going to work with us,” she said. “The board knows that we have the community and the taxpayers on our side. I think a big thanks needs to go out to the community for their support in all this.”

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