East Liverpool school board, teachers union reach agreement

EAST LIVERPOOL — The city school board and the teachers union have ratified a mutual agreement reached last week.

Both the board and the East Liverpool Education Association accepted an invitation by a federal mediator to come together for informal talks. Those talks allowed both sides to explain their positions that had been on the bargaining table.

The new contract, of which there were no details tonight, is good until Aug. 31, 2017.

"We all wanted to get this school year started in a positive way, focused on the success of our students, and the federal mediator gave us that opportunity," said board president Scott Dieringer, in a news release from the school district.

"The ELEA membership is extremely excited to get back to our classrooms and welcome our children back with open arms," said Cathy Reed, union president in the same release.