MANCHESTER — The Board of School Committee has set a tentative meeting for Monday in hopes that both the principal and teacher unions will have crafted an agreement with the school district by by then.

Mayor Ted Gatsas said he met with Manchester Education Association President Ben Dick on Monday and they will meet again on Wednesday to work out the details of a fledgling deal.

"There's nothing in writing. I'm waiting to meet with him again tomorrow to come up with some final details and get a tentative agreement inked so I can call the school board in and present it to them," said Gatsas. "I'm cautiously optimistic.”

The Association of Manchester Principals is very close to a deal with the city, according to Gatsas. The final wording is being put together to present the school board next week.

School projections show the district can save $5 million next fiscal year if teachers, principals and school staff agree to health care concessions. These deal include the same concessions city workers made in their contracts, agreeing to pay more toward their health insurance premiums, deductibles and doctors visits over the next three years. The school deal also includes a 1 percent cost of living increase for years 2014 and 2015, as well as a $10,800 incentive for staff that retire at the end of the school year.

Once a tentative deal is struck, the school board must sign off on the deals, as do the union members.

Last week, the Manchester Education Association met to discuss a previously rejected proposal and were asked to provide feedback to union leaders about what else both sides could do to reach agreement. Association of Manchester Principals President Rick Norton said on Monday his union's leadership has met with school officials more than a dozen times in recent weeks to broker their deal.

The school board is requesting $152 million from the city general fund to put toward school programs and staff. Gatsas has proposed flat-funding the school district by allotting $150 million from the general fund. This means the district must cut $10 million to $12 million in staffing and current programs. To bridge this gap, the school board has already approved laying off 161 full-time staff, which includes teachers, principals and counselors.