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photo courtesy of the REA
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Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Education Association put out a short statement on their Facebook page saying they were, “Puzzled today by the BOE statement regarding negotiations. The settlement structure that was agreed upon was one proposed by the REA. Does the Board believe that the REA doesn’t understand their own proposal?”
September 20, 2016
Dear members of the Ridgewood community:
We are pleased to announce that on Tuesday, September 13, the negotiating committees for the Ridgewood Board of Education and the Ridgewood Education Association (REA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for a three-year contract for the period July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2018.
This MOA lists the new contract terms, which will be made public once the contract is ratified by the teachers and voted on by the Board at a regular public meeting. The contract becomes effective once the Board approves it.
During this prolonged negotiation, many community members, parents, and students shared their ideas and perspectives with us. While opinions varied, the overriding messages were consistent. Our community cares deeply about the quality of our schools. The educational programs and extracurricular activities offered to our students are highly valued as are our teachers, and the contract should be fair and balanced.
As we complete the tasks needed to finalize the contract, we ask for your continued patience and understanding. The good news is that the disruption caused by the unsettled contract is behind us and we can once again focus our attention on what unites us as a community, the education of our children and our excellent schools.
Ridgewood Board of Education
Sheila Brogan, President
Vince Loncto, Vice President
Christina Krauss
Jim Morgan
Jennie Smith Wilson
We need to support the BOE and the Students. Everyone’s kids has suffered due to these teachers union this year. Class trips and after school programs are suffering. The private sectors healthcare is exploding also with no relief for us. Copays of $45, for each visit, teachers and all civil servants all need to pay their fare share and understand the pain and suffering that we are all paying more for. We are not getting raises to cover these increases nor should they. While we’re talking on this subject let’s move all to 401K plans. The system can’t handle all the retirees benefits. We will collapse soon, work 25 years then collect retirement for 35 years? Use them or lose them…no more taking $100,000s of dollars in unused sick time and vacation accrued, this is absurd. I support reasonable demands and expect our BOE professionals not to cave on unrealistic demands. Don’t get me wrong I do support teachers but can’t wait for those signs to go away!
