For First Time Since June, SOMSD Board of Ed, SOMEA Move Closer to a Contract

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After the teacher’s union and the District signed a memorandum of agreement on Thursday, BOE President Nubia DuVall Wilson said, “We look forward to finalizing the SOMEA contract this school year for our hard-working teachers.”

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Three weeks after the new South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education held its first negotiations with representatives from its teacher’s union on January 7, the two sides moved a step closer to a contract by signing a memorandum of agreement on Thursday.

Board President Nubia DuVall Wilson announced the news at the end of her report to the Board and the public on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 saying the Board and the South Orange-Maplewood Education Association (SOMEA) are now working on the salary guide.

“Although we had not come to a tentative agreement with the mediator on the 7th after negotiating until 1:30 am, our efforts continued thereafter to get to where we are today.,” DuVall Wilson said.  “Once the salary guide is agreed upon, it will be ratified by SOMEA and then voted on by the Board as the final step. Thank you to everyone involved, and we look forward to finalizing the SOMEA contract this school year for our hard-working teachers.”

Board of Education President Nubia DuVall Wilson announced that the District and SOMEA have signed a memorandum of agreement on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.

Upon the news, the Board and the audience, several of whom were teachers or SOMEA representatives, applauded.

“We’re happy that things are moving forward,” SOMEA President Rocio Lopez said after the meeting.  “We just need to finish everything.”

Lopez said she and SOMEA leadership will present the salary guides to their members, give them 48 hours to think about it and then they’ll take a vote to ratify it.

“This is huge,” Lopez said. “I’m going to wait to talk about it until everything is done, but we got a memorandum.”

Lopez said she and other representatives sent an email out to their membership informing them of the news at the same time that DuVall Wilson was making her announcement.

The union — which represents teachers and other non-administration staff — has been working without a contract since June 30, 2024.

SOMEA declared an impasse in contract negotiations with the District and the Board following at meeting on Sept. 23. Fed up, teachers marched through downtown South Orange to the District building on Academy Street for a Board meeting on Sept. 26, demanding fair pay.

On Sept. 26, 2024 SOMEA members gathered at SOMS and marched through South Orange Village to the Board of Education in Maplewood chanting “More than praise, we deserve a raise.” (Photo by Laura Griffin)

 

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