Peabody schools near deal with union

PEABODY – Chief negotiator for the School Committee Dave McGeney announced Tuesday night that “significant progress” has been made toward reaching contract agreements with the remaining unsigned bargaining units.Prior to the regularly scheduled meeting, McGeney, Assistant City Solicitor Dan Cocuzzo and representatives from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) met in executive session. It was during that time that the two parties ratified and signed a new contract.McGeney asked that his fellow members ratify the agreement, so as to move the process along, and they did just that. It will now go before Mayor Michael Bonfanti for his approval and signature.Details of the contract were not yet made available.McGeney also announced that agreements in principle have been reached between negotiating members of Units C and B, which represent administrators and paraprofessionals, respectively.”Hopefully, at our next meeting, we’ll have a vote on that,” he said, adding that the language is currently being drafted and reviewed.At the last meeting, paraprofessionals and their supporters held a demonstration, expressing their right to a new contract. Negotiations over the contract for paraprofessionals began in May 2007. Since then, they have been working under the expired agreement.It is expected that they, like the several other recently signed contracts in the city, will see an increase in their contribution to health care costs.