Celina teachers, board tenatively approve contract

The Celina board of education and Celina Education Association (CEA) on Tuesday signed a tentative agreement for a two-year contract for teachers, according to Superintendent Matt Miller.

The contract will not become official unless ratified by the CEA at a meeting on Thursday.

"The terms left on the table after 12 hours of negotiation with the help of a federal mediator will be put before the general membership of the Celina Education Association on Thursday evening at 7 p.m.," CEA President Wally Ellinger said this morning. "The ultimate decision is up to the members."

Neither Miller nor Ellinger would release the details of the pending contract.

"I applaud both sides for working hard to get an agreement done - especially in these difficult economic times," Miller wrote in a press release. "I am also encouraged that a tentative agreement was reached prior to the start of the school so that everyone's focus can be on our students."

Federal mediator Steve Anderson was brought into the school on Tuesday morning to revive negotiations between the two sides.

Both sides started negotiations on July 29. After a single, six-hour session, no other meetings were scheduled. Miller had said the two sides were at a stumbling block.

Celina teachers are working on the last year of a three-year contract, which expires Aug. 31.

The last contract, which became effective Sept. 1, 2006, gave teachers a 2.75 percent raise the first year, 2.5 percent the second year and 2.25 percent the third year.