Teachers 'Overwhelmingly' Approve Contract

The Haddonfield Education Association "overwhelmingly" approved a new contract on Wednesday, association President Sharon Stokes said. The HEA represents about 280 school district employees, including teachers.

Negotiators reached the tentative agreement two weeks ago.

The Board of Education is expected to vote on the contract in a special meeting on Monday.

Both sides refused to discuss the details of the tentative agreement before the vote. 

"It's one of those endings where neither side came away happy, but both were able to walk away and say 'we did our best,'" said Stokes, a Latin teacher at Haddonfield Memorial High School. "We put together a contract that is in line with what other districts negotiated for at the same time."

Stokes said she can't discuss details of the agreement until the board ratifies it. But she said the contract will run through 2014 and starts retroactively from the contract that expired in June 2010.

School board President Steve Weinstein said he's relieved the contract is resolved.

"The board is quite pleased to be able to reach a settlement in this difficult year and with difficult circumstances," he said. "We think it's a fair agreement and it will accommodate and protect taxpayers, and is fair to teachers."

The board will hold the special meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at the Central School. It will be a joint meeting with the borough Board of Commissioners to also discuss a public purchase of the Bancroft property.