Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com

After several months of negotiations, the Brighton Board of Education and Brighton teachers’ union have reached tentative agreement on a new contract. The settlement was reached Monday night at a meeting between the board and the union's executive committee.

The roughly 325 teachers, members of the Brighton Education Association, have continued to work since the start of school in September under terms of the old contract, while negotiations continued. The board will vote on the contract at its regular meeting Monday night.

If ratified by both sides, the agreement would replace a 3-year contract that expired August 31st. The new contract, also for three years, would be retroactive to expiration of the old agreement. Regarding the terms of the agreement, Brighton Schools Superintendent Matthew Outlaw said he can't reveal the specifics until it's ratified.

Outlaw and union officials each say the delay in passing a state budget in Lansing is the main reason that contract talks dragged on for many months. BEA Chief Negotiator Jenny Sobolevski tells WHMI, in her words, “That was the big hindrance for us.”

The state spending bill wasn’t signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer until Oct. 7th, six days after the state’s fiscal year started on Oct. 1st.

Sobolevski says the BEA will hold a general membership meeting on Thursday, quote, “so they'll have all the information they need to make an informed decision.” Voting on the contract will start afterward and continue over the weekend.