WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. July 1, 2008: WPCNR has learned that White Plains teacher negotiations on a new contract have been suspended through the summer and will not resume until the fall. A source close to the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, told WPCNR there will be no agreement until teachers return to work in September because the teachers' contract specifically forbid any vote on a contract during the summer.

A vote on a teachers' contract can only occur while the contract is in effect from September 1 through June 30, the source said. The source said the current items under discussion are salary and medical benefits. The source said the teachers were particularly annoyed at the increases in the salaries of 42 full-time Coordinators, Directors and principals and assistants who received $444,553 in salary increases for 2008-2009, an average of 7.5%, and an average raise in pay of $10,584. Though no salary figures have emerged from the clandestine negtiations, the teacher salaries in last year's contract were held at 3.2% across all steps, substantially less than 7.5%. Some administrators received salary increases over 10%

Our contact said that the current contract for 2007-2008 would remain in effect until a new contract is negotiated and approved. The last time this happened, they recalled was in 1999-2000,