Utica City School Board approves bargaining agreement

As the Utica Teachers Association has voted in favor of an agreement, the Utica City School Board finalized the deal Tuesday night.

The Utica Teachers Association voted in favor of the teacher evaluations as well as a wage freeze for three years.

With the S=school board approving the bargaining agreement, come Wednesday, 60teachers will be notified that they will be returning back to work for the upcoming school year.

This also means that kindergarten will mainintain as a full day and  sports programs are safe for now.

Class sizes will be reduced and this will secure close to seven million dollars in building aid to pay for the school district's capital project.

Superintendent says the school district will now work hard for scheduling for the next school year.

"We have to inject this in the master schedule at the high school and two middle schools and elementary buildings. We need to revamp our scheduling now and have everything ready for the September school year," said Karam.

But, this still means 150 positions will not be restored.

Superintendent Karam also says the school distirct will face challenges down the road because of the lack of state aid funding. Karam says he wants to thank the teachers for stepping up to the plate in times of financial hardship.

He says this is a positive step for everyone involved.