By CATERINA GUINTA

Staff Intern

SULLIVAN TWP. — After nearly 12 hours of negotiating Saturday, unions representing Black River teachers and support staff have called off their strike planned for Wednesday, a Black River Board of Education statement said.

The teachers’ tentative contract was settled around 5 p.m. and the support staffs’ was finalized around 10 Saturday night, said Janice Wyckoff, Black River superintendent.

“(I) take my hats off to the board and to the negotiations team,” said union spokesman Doug Scheck. “They were committed to getting it done and they did.”

“The doors of Black River will be staying open. The strike threat is over,” Wyckoff said. “We feel the contracts were advantageous to both sides.”

Both unions have been working without a contract since July 1. They initially decided to issue the 10-day strike notice because they contacted the federal mediator on Nov. 6 to get back to the table, but as of Nov. 14, the mediator and both unions hadn’t heard from the board or superintendent, BRTA President Gary Flegel said in a statement.

The board responded it had never heard from the negotiator during that time.

The Black River Teachers Association will hold a meeting Dec. 8 to vote on the tentative contract.

“We’ll meet and answer any questions they have, and then we’ll vote on it,” Flegel said. “I’m pretty sure we have a package all the members will be able to live with.”

The Black River Support Staff Association was unable to be reached for comment Sunday but Scheck believes the union will have a separate meeting to vote on its tentative contract.

While specific terms of the agreements can’t be revealed, Flegel said, the final negotiations weren’t on financial matters.

“There was about four or five non-financial issues we needed to get ironed out,” he said. “We’re real pleased.”

Both sides are relieved and happy the strike threat is gone.

“I’m very happy it’s over,” Flegel said. “(And) they (the teachers) are glad this is off their shoulders.”

“The Black River Board of Education, myself, the treasurer are real happy and proud that we were able to get them decent contracts,” Wyckoff said. “Black River will be back to focusing on educating students.”

The teachers association represents about 115 certified employees, including teachers, counselors and media specialists. The support staff association represents about 50 classified employees such as bus drivers, secretaries, aides, cafeteria workers and custodians.

Guinta may be reached at 330-721-4046 or cguinta@ohio.net.

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