The Lehighton Area School District has reached a new contract with its support staff, who had been working without a contract for nine months.

The school board voted 9-0 Monday night to approve a new contract with the Lehighton Area Education Support Personnel Association.The union represents 100 support staff working in a wide variety of positions, including paraprofessionals, secretaries, school nurses, groundskeepers, maintenance, cooks, head cooks, network analysts and emotional support.The five-year contract is retroactive to July 1, 2016, and runs through June 30, 2021.Union officials said they were pleased to have a contract in place with the district."It was a compromise on both sides. We worked diligently together for our association to obtain an agreement that was in the best interest of both sides, and our students," union Vice President Lori German said.The contract includes increases in salary and health care, however it is not expected to require any increase in the millage rate, Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said."What we try to do is look at other districts in the area and try to keep it comparable with health care costs, as well as what they're paying in copays," he said.He praised the union for cordial negotiations, which never included the threat of a strike or the use of an outside mediator."This is a five-year contract, so it'll be nice to have some time before we start over again. But I do have to get credit to their group, it was a very cordial conversation," Cleaver said. "We worked together."School board President Gloria Bowman also thanked both sides."I want to thank everyone for working diligently together to bring this to a close, and we're happy we're moving forward," she said.Other businessThe school board also voted to approve a four-year contract extension with its bus contractor.They voted 9-0 to extend the district's agreement with George's Transportation Company Inc.The contract will include a one-time 2.5 percent cost increase in the cost of daily and activity rates.The district's 2016-17 transportation budget is approximately $1,544,000. Cleaver said that they have been a longtime partner for the district."They work with us very well. We're lucky to have someone as good as them," he said.