MAPS teachers attend open house after tentative contract agreement is made
Marquette area teachers and the school board have reached a tentative contract agreement after a year of negotiations.
The tentative agreement meant teachers were on hand for the district’s open house Wednesday night. Last week, teachers said they would not attend the open house, but due to the agreement they were able to greet students and their parents.
“Our rooms are ready, they’ve been ready and we’re really excited to be able to come tonight,” Cherry Creek Elementary School second grade teacher Cindy Hanson said. “We’re grateful to the negotiating teams to make this possible.”
Marquette Area Education Association lead negotiator Fred Cole could not release any information regarding the details of the agreement, but is glad the contract issue is resolved.
“There were lots of proposals back and forth, plenty of paper moving back and forth across the table for everybody involved,” Marquette Area Education Association lead negotiator Fred Cole said. “It’s been a divisive issue and it’s good to hopefully have all this behind us and all be playing together for the shared goal of helping the students and helping the families of this community.”
MAPS School Board president Rich Rossway released a statement regarding the contract agreement to ABC 10 stating:
“While the Board is encouraged by the TA [tentative agreement], we must still review the details regarding the long term affects on our budget. The Board has fought hard to represent the taxpayer first and foremost throughout this process, and we will remain committed to being fiscally responsible as the Board evaluates the TA and its bottom line impact on the District.”
The details of the agreement are expected to be released in the next few weeks.