NORWICH – Negotiations between the Norwich City School District and the Norwich Educators Association are on hold until later this month, when the administration and teachers union will sit down with a mediator once again.

Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan has requested that the next contract negotiation session be scheduled for Nov. 25, which will be after an emergency meeting of state legislators on Nov. 18 to discuss the possibility of mid-year budget cuts.

“I am concerned,” O’Sullivan said. “The governor just announced a $47 billion deficit over four years. He has frozen all state spending and is canceling contracts.”

O’Sullivan said he needed to know if these cuts would become a reality before moving forward with the negotiation process.

“We need to know before committing the district to a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract,” the superintendent explained.

Discussion for the current contract started about two years ago, said O’Sullivan, in a much different economic climate than what exists today. But the delay in no way means that the district wants to prolong the process unneccesarily.

“A contract is in everybody’s best interest and the district is very anxious to reach a settlement,” said O’Sullivan.