Brandywine School District and its educators reached a new contract agreement Monday night. (Photo of Brandywine High School)
Brandywine School District and its educators struck a deal Monday night after a nearly year-long contract impasse.
The district, which is the fifth largest in the state, agreed to raise the pay and protect the working conditions of more than a thousand public school teachers and specialists.
“This is a huge win for teachers and specialists here in the Brandywine School District and everyone in Delaware who supports public education and union labor,” said Brandywine Education Association President Steve Rulon, a chemistry teacher in the district for
more than 20 years.
Brandywine School Board votes
The Brandywine School Board’s vote to approve a new 3-year contract with BEA on Monday came just hours after union members voted to ratify a tentative deal that was reached during negotiations mediated by the Delaware Public Employment Relations Board.
Teachers and specialists in the Brandywine School District had been working under an expired contract since June 2024 – an extension of their last three-year contract which had expired in 2023.
The two sides had not reached a deal despite a very successful referendum in 2024 that was supposed to help the district recruit and retain educators.
Brandywine’s educators started picketing outside of school hours in early December.
“Public educators in Delaware proved once again that we are willing to stand up and fight to deliver the best possible education for our students,” said Stephanie Ingram, president of the Delaware State Education Association. “You can’t provide a great education
without great educators, and I am thankful for the great educators in the Brandywine School District who stood their ground until they got a labor deal that respects their dedication and their commitment to preparing all students for a lifetime of success.”
Despite reaching a new labor agreement with the district on Monday, an unfair labor practices charge filed by BEA against Brandywine School Board President Ralph Ackerman following a confrontation on the picket lines is still pending before the Delaware Public Employment Relations Board.
A hearing in that case has not yet been scheduled.
Immediate efforts to reach Ackerman and the other board members for comment were unsuccessful Tuesday.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
