BOXFORD — The signs can come down.
The Masconomet Regional School Committee has agreed to a two-year contract with the Masconomet Teachers' Association. Teachers had approved the deal Tuesday, and the School Committee approved it unanimously on Wednesday.
Contracts usually span three years, but because of the volatile economy, the sides agreed to a shorter term this time around. It is retroactive to September.
Teachers will get a 2 percent cost-of-living raise for the 2008-2009 school year but no cost-of-living hike the following year.
Both sides also agreed to explore ways to cut health care costs, which could see teachers joining the state's Group Insurance Commission.
Dan Volchok, who headed the School Committee's negotiating team, declined to delve into specifics of the lengthy negotiations.
"There were a number of sticking points, but I'm not going to get into them because I think they're going to come up again," Volchok said.
The School Committee vote was unanimous, Volchok said. Boxford Town Manager Alan Benson, who was this year's representative for the three towns in the district, also approved the deal, Volchok said.
James Dillon, spokesman for the Teachers' Association, did not return a call seeking comment.
According to the state Department of Education, there are 132 teachers working in the middle and high schools and 2,147 students from the member towns, Boxford, Middleton and Topsfield.
For months, large red and white signs posted as far away as North Andover advised passers-by that the teachers had been working without a contract since September.
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
