Following two years of negotiations and almost a year and a half without contracts, the teachers of Old Rochester Regional Junior High and High Schools have finally ratified a contract agreement.

The members of the Old Rochester Professional Educators Association unanimously approved the terms of a four-year contract on Wednesday, March 20.

“Members of the ORPEA were united in their desire to assist the ORR School District with managing the growth of the school budget while also preserving benefits for employees who might come on board in the future,” wrote Dr. Colin Everett, President of the teachers' association.

While Everett declined to go into specifics on the agreement until it is officially signed, he said, “The association accepted multiple and substantive concessions to our health care. Union members chose to pay a larger percentage of their health care premiums and co-pays, rather than agree to the School Committee’s request to penalize only new employees with substantially higher premiums.”

Everett said previous drafts of the contract had all of the concessions for insurance costs on future employees.

“The Association thought if we were to have concessions, it should be shared by everyone, not just put all the burden and austerity on new members,” he said. “It helps to not only attract and retain teachers in the future, but also to continue our culture of collaboration.”

The ORR School Committee and teachers’ union have been in negotiations since the fall of 2010, with the final holdup being health insurance costs.

Rising premiums have hit the ORR budget hard.

For the 2013 budget, the committee requested a $495,000 increase over the previous year.

The combined projected increases for health insurance and for the Plymouth County retirement assessment made up $302,000 of that amount.

“The cost of health care is increasing more quickly than our budget,” said Peter Bangs, former Chair of the School Committee, in August. “We lost nine positions last year due to budgetary issues.”

The two groups brought in a state mediator to move the process forward; however, negotiations remained at a standstill through the summer.

Everett said in August, “It’s good for the school as a larger community to show that we can negotiate our way to an agreement, and to show the students that we are united behind a common goal, which is their education.”

Superintendent Doug White agreed.

“That we could continue to provide high quality education to the students is my ultimate goal. The biggest thing is to have both sides be amenable to an agreement,” White said.

ORR’s secretaries and instructional assistants, who are part of the teacher’s union but are separate bargaining units, have also been without a contract since August 31, as their insurance is tied to the teachers.

Everett notified White of the teachers’ decision following their meeting Wednesday afternoon and would like to sign the contract as soon as possible.

“We’re ready to move forward,” he said.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.