The teachers union and the school district have had their final negotiations session for a new contract — one that could possibly increase bereavement leave and make it so lead teachers have to teach one less class. The two parties had their last session of negotiations on Monday to come to a new tentative agreement which, if ratified by union members, would become the new collective bargaining agreement. The union and school district have until Dec. 17 to come up with a tentative agreement before an arbitrator will step in and make a decision. New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT) began formal negotiations with the school district for a new teachers union contract on Sept. 30. The current contract went into effect on July 1, 2023 and ends June 30, 2026. Reached for comment Friday, school district spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent that, as bargaining nears a conclusion, “Our goal remains the same: We want the best possible working environment for our teachers. We will do the best we can with the available resources, knowing that this effort must be sustained over time. We will continue to advocate for the resources that can provide our teachers with the compensation they deserve and facilities that truly support their work.” During bargaining, NHFT prioritized offering transparency for its members about negotiation-related updates by releasing bulletins about the progress that has been made and what the district and union are fighting for. Click here to read the full union updates. In a separate comment provided to the Independent on Friday, NHFT President Leslie Blatteau said: “After two months of negotiating, NHFT wants to reach a settlement on Tuesday. We know the City and the Board of Education value our work. We believe that will result in a fair contract that prioritizes educator retention and respects all we do for NHPS.” The union has identified multiple priorities for their negotiations, including increasing bereavement leave, decreasing class sizes, increasing unencumbered time, and limiting educators’ caseload caps. The bulletin released by the teachers union on Wednesday updated members about Monday’s final negotiation session. It noted that the district agreed to add “partner/partner immediate family” to the contract’s bereavement language and to include one day off for the funerals of members’ nieces and nephews. The district also agreed to lead teachers teaching one less class and for the school board to post a line-by-line New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) budget breakdown on its website. The final negotiation session had eight first-time observers joined by ten returningNHFT observers. The two parties will next move to a single mediation session scheduled before the Dec. 17 arbitration deadline to come up with a tentative agreement. If the parties don’t agree on a tentative agreement by the arbitration hearing deadline, the decision will be made by the state arbitration panel. Past bulletins encouraged members to call the mayor to push for approval of the union’s proposal for a switch to the state’s CT Partnership Plan for health insurance improvements, which the union claims would make health care more affordable, and to speak up at Board of Education meetings and sign up as observers to negotiation sessions. In NHFT’s final negotiation session update, the union wrote that the district claimed that the cost for the CT Partnership Plan would be over $10 million more than the cost of the district’s current plan. The update also quoted the district’s negotiation team as stating, “It’s just not possible. The costs are too high.” A Nov. 18 update from the union states, “We did withdraw several proposals that we did not feel we had the time and power to prioritize–including New Haven Residency Incentive Proposal, Classroom Supplies Stipend Proposal, and our Tuition Reimbursement Proposal.” The school district’s “most important proposal,” the union said in its Wednesday bulletin, is to extend educators’ work day by 15 minutes. This would result in a 3.7 percent increase to teachers’ work days. The post As Negotiations Wrap Up, Teachers Union NHPS Eye New Contract appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less