Harford County Public Schools' largest union has finally settled in this year's contract negotiation, after four months of active negotiations.

The Harford County Education Association, or HCEA, which bargains on behalf of more than 3,000 teachers, was the last employee association to reach an agreement with the board of education.

The tentative agreement, which was signed Monday and became effective Wednesday, maintains health benefits at their current level and does not include a cost of living adjustment or step increase for teachers.

The board of education will continue to maintain its 90 percent share of the HCEA members health insurance costs, even though it is facing a $5.3 million increase in health benefit costs. HCEA members will continue to pay 10 percent.

"This year the negotiation process was extremely difficult due to the economic situation our county, state and nation are currently experiencing," Randy Cerveny, president of HCEA, said in a press release Tuesday. "In fact, this year's negotiations became more about maintaining the integrity of the negotiated agreement, than making significant strides. We protected teacher income and benefit levels. HCEA will continue to strive to gain the respect for what teachers do as well as the time necessary to do it.”

During the active negotiation process, members of HCEA appeared before the school board three times and, since they cannot speak directly about the negotiations, demanded the respect they deserve and the time to do their jobs.

In response to HCEA appearances before the board, board member John Smilko, at the June 8 board meeting, advised HCEA to stop asking for more money and to be more realistic.

He said that HCEA, in effect, had received the board's best and final offer.

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