6/24/14 - In a surprise Monday night, the Brighton Board of Education unanimously ratified a new, five-year contract with its two major employee unions. That includes the Brighton Education Association, representing 290 teachers in the Brighton district, and the support union, BESPA, representing over 100 employees, which has already ratified the agreement. The old contract with BESPA, the Brighton Educational Support Personnel Association, was set to expire on June 30. It had not been generally known that the board was ready to vote on new contracts, but that became evident late in the meeting when trustees began openly discussing the contractsâ main provisions in open session. The BEA membership will be voting on the tentative agreement over the next three days. Superintendent Greg Gray tells WHMI that it was a collaborative effort which resulted in the agreements. Gray says both contracts include wage freezes over the entire term of each contract, although wage re-openers can be sought by either side. Brighton teachers are now in the second year of a 2-year contract, which is set to expire on Aug. 31. They received modest salary increases of 1-to-2 per cent this past year after being in a pay freeze, or seeing their pay reduced, for several years prior to that. BEA President Ellen Lafferty told the board it will not be "an easy sell" convincing fellow teachers to ratify the new contract, considering the zero salary increase it includes. The board also approved contract extensions through June 30, 2016, with its two top administrators under Superintendent Gray, including Assistant Superintendent of Finance Maria Gistinger and Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Laura Surrey. The extensions contain no salary increases. (TT)
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