The Benicia Unified School District and the Benicia Teachers’ Association (BTA) reached a tentative agreement Friday over contract negotiations following a four-month impasse.

In November, the BTA declared an impasse over salary negotiations and noted that not having a proper competitive compensation was contributing to a teacher shortage in the district. Among the issues frequently brought up were the difficulty in hiring and keeping teachers, vacancies being filled by non-credentialed teachers and teachers substituting for an extra class during their prep periods.

A mediation between the two parties was scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23, but a settlement was not reached. However, at the last mediation, an agreement was reached for the time being.

Both Superintendent Charles Young and BTA President Carleen Maselli were pleased with the results.

“We both reached a settlement that we found favorable and both sides can live with,” Young said.

Maselli said the mediation process tends to result in more compromises than either party was hoping to make, but she was happy that something was able to come of it.

“We feel like we made the best compromise that we could under the circumstances,” she said.

The contract is good for this school year, but the BTA would need to open up negotiations for next year’s contract by April 1.

“That’s the point where we disclose our next bargaining routes,” Maselli said.

Maselli said that teachers will be looking in the future at what can be done to attract and retain outstanding teachers, making sure the schools are fully staffed and teachers do not have to work above their contracts, and to bring in good substitutes.

“We want to keep moving on that track where the teachers are growing, our teachers are supporting our students and our teachers are working with our administration,” she said. “We’re all in this together to give the best education that we can for our students.”

The exact terms of the agreement have not yet been disclosed, but they will be presented at Benicia High School’s General Assembly meeting on Wednesday. After that, voting will be opened up and it will be closed at 8 p.m. Then it will be voted on in open session at the next board meeting.

Maselli thanked parents and students for their support, especially addressing the school board during the public comment portion at Thursday’s meeting.

“That was just amazing to us, and we really feel grateful for the support they showed and taking time out to come and engage in the process,” she said. “It’s intimidating to go up to a podium and speak to the board, but they did a great job.”

Likewise, Young was impressed with the way the community and teachers presented themselves, tensions aside.

“When the teachers came and presented on Thursday night, for me as a superintendent, I think it was reflective of the culture in this town,” he said. “They were very professional and very well-prepared. They presented themselves in a way that made me feel proud of them as a group.”

He also said that the board wanted teachers to know that its trustees are supportive of them.

At this point, both parties are reflecting on the process and what went well and what can be improved next cycle.

“Communication is going to have to continue to be improved if we want to stay away from contentious bargaining every time we have a cycle,” Maselli said. “I think that’s one thing we’re going to have to look at.”

“We want to continually reflect on what we do, how we did it and how we can get better at it,” Young said. “The big lesson in this is having an unvarnished reflection with each other over how it went and how we can get better.”

He added that a major goal was “leveraging the opportunity to continue to build a strong relationship between the two parties, which I think for the most part is pretty strong, but we always want it to be as strong as it can be.”

The next board meeting is Thursday, March 16.