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.
