Friday, Dec. 1 — In an exclusive comment to the News-Press late this afternoon, Dr. Peter Noonan, superintendent of the Falls Church City Schools said that the schools and representatives of the Falls Church City Education Association are “very close” to arriving at a contract agreement as the system’s first effort with collective bargaining came toward its deadline.

On March 28 last spring, the FCCPS School Board unanimously passed a resolution granting the teachers association the power to collectively bargain for higher wages, improved benefits and working conditions,,but months of negotiations led to a stalemate going into November. According to School Board chair Laura Downs, a neutral professional from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was called in to assist the process free of charge.