Tentative Agreement Reached on ESP Contract

After almost two years of negotiations, school officials have reached a tentative contract agreement with the North Kingstown Education Support Professionals union. 

The NK School Committee's negotiations sub-committee (made up of Kimberly Page, Larry Ceresi and John Boscardin) and Superintendent Phil Auger announced a tentative agreement had been made on Thursday after a seven-hour-long negotiation session. The ESP union (representing the school department's cafeteria workers, custodians and other support professionals) is scheduled to bring the contract to its full membership Tuesday. 

Once that vote is taken, the school committee will vote on the agreement at its Tuesday night meeting at 7 p.m. In a press release from the negotiations sub-committee, the group stated it would not reveal the details of the agreement.

"The details will be made public at the Dec. 11 School Committee meeting after the union leadership and full school committee has an opportunity to review it with their membership and vote," said Auger. "The agreement was reflective and fair to both the ESP employees and the taxpayers of the community given the continued and foreseeable budgetary and economic constraints."

NK ESP has been without a contract since June of last year. Tensions grew over this summer as the committee .

Read more about the details of the privatization here.

Tuesday night's meeting starts at 7 p.m. at North Kingstown High School.