What's Going On?

The Board of Education of Harford County and the Harford County Education Association (HCEA), which represents the approximately 3,000 public school teachers in the county, jointly announce that a tentative contract settlement has been reached between the two organizations. This agreement maintains health benefits at its current level and does not include a cost of living adjustment or step increase for teachers.

After four months of negotiations, a tentative agreement was reached when representatives of the school system and HCEA signed the document on June 29, 2009.

Specifics of the tentative agreement will be shared with members of the Board of Education of Harford County and with the teacher members of HCEA. The agreement becomes official after ratification by both the HCEA and the Board and will become effective July 1, 2009.

“My fellow Board members and I are glad that we were able to reach an agreement with the Harford County Education Association,” said Patrick L. Hess, board president. “In light of tough economic times, we have reached an agreement which is best for all involved.”

“This year the negotiation process was extremely difficult due to the economic situation our county, state and nation are currently experiencing,” said Randy Cerveny, President of HCEA. “In fact, this year’s negotiations became more about maintaining the integrity of the negotiated agreement, than making significant strides. We protected teacher income and benefit levels. HCEA will continue to strive to gain the respect for what teachers do as well as the time necessary to do it.”

“I am pleased that we were able to achieve this tentative agreement with HCEA,” said Patricia L. Skebeck, Interim Superintendent of Schools. “To reach a settlement means that we can now move forward and focus on what matters most to both parties – student achievement.”