What does it take to break a habit of failing to reach a teacher contract by the start of school and then dragging on the process for months to come?

There are multiple answers why the Warwick Teachers Union and the school administration have an agreement spanning to August of 2027 well before the current academic year comes to a close. Indeed, coming off a one-year agreement where the only matter addressed was wages had something to do with it. And, yes, as soon as that one-year pact was signed, the parties sat down to negotiate. And, not unexpected, there was a point where it looked like negotiations could get dragged on for months. But then according to accounts the hardened positions softened sufficiently for the sides to accept mediation.

And what sealed an agreement was the selection of former Mayor and retired RI Supreme Court Justice Francis Flaherty to play the key role of mediator.

“He brought decades of experience,” Assistant Superintendent William McCaffrey said of Flaherty. As mayor and like others who succeeded him, Flaherty faced off with school committees over budgets that he and the City Council felt the taxpayers couldn’t afford. But as mayor, too, he recognized teachers and municipal employees were deserving of salary increases.

Flaherty’s involvement in the talks was not heralded as frequently done when an outsider is brought in to break a stalemate. Flaherty’s involvement was announced at a school committee meeting and that was it.

Two major issues separated the parties – salaries and wording over wording for special education teachers.

Flaherty had an agreement in two days. Superintend Lynn Dambruch, Warwick Teachers Union President Darlene Netcoh and McCaffrey agree Flaherty was the right person at the right time to bring the sides together. School finance director Brandon Bohl, who attended the talks for the purpose of providing the numbers said Flaherty brought “objectivity” to the sessions.

“They know each other well. It added credibility,” he said.

In a statement released Wednesday, Netcoh said, “We truly believe that our success in reaching an agreement was due to Judge Flaherty’s ability to bring this process to a successful conclusion for all. Having a successor agreement settled this early is a benefit for everyone—for our students, for the city, for the WSC/WPS, and for the members of he WTU. All of us can now focus on diligently and successfully educating our students.”

Flaherty who does a considerable amount of mediation and arbitration work, said this was his first experience mediating a teacher contract. He said the parties came to him with a limited list of issues and the expectation that they could reach an agreement within a couple of days.

“Both sides were professional and reasonable,” he said adding, “they were motivated to do it and that made it a lot easier.”

Flaherty said the parties worked hard and were well prepared.

“It was an enjoyable experience,” he said. It didn’t escape him either that the city is facing three years of teacher labor peace.

Bohl provided the following financial impact of the contract: Teachers will get a 2.5 % raise as of Sept. 1 followed by an additional 0.5% on March 1, 2025 which including overall contract changes will cost an additional $2.66 million in the first year. The schedule calls for another 2.5 % raise and 0.5% in years two and three of the contract. Overall contract changes plus raises total an additional $2.74 million and $2.82 million in FY 26 and FY 27 respectively. The overall total added cost of the three-year pact is $8.22 million.

Touching on a key issue to the administration, Bohl wrote in an email, “the special education language changes are going to be reviewed/ communicated at parent forums with the Warwick Special Education Advisory Committee; the committee is made up of parents, school committee members, teachers, and the special education department.”