July 22, 2016
Ridgewood NJ, For six hours on Wednesday evening, July 20, the Board of Education members and the Ridgewood Education Association (REA) Negotiating Team met with Tim Huntley, the state-appointed super conciliator. The contract remains unsettled.
At the meeting, the Board reviewed its three-year contract proposal and the district’s finances with the super conciliator. The Board’s proposal included:
· Salary increases over three years of 1.1%, 2.8% and 2.8%;
· For the highest paid teachers, payments to offset a portion of the cost of their health insurance premium contributions. These amounts would be $500 year one, $1,000 year two, and $1,500 year three;
· A change in the health insurance plan from NJ Direct 10 to NJ Direct 15. According to our estimates, the change in the health insurance plan, if it happened by January 1, 2017, would reduce the cost of premium for the district by $722,878 and for the REA members by $250,040.
Contrary to the REA’s statement that was released after the meeting, this proposal is not the same proposal offered to them in February.
The current proposal reflects our sincere attempt to compromise and address the contract requests from the REA.
The Board’s offer is structured to keep salaries above the county average and maintain our standing as having the highest salaries in the county for new teachers. The district’s great reputation and our competitive salaries continue to attract job applicants. That is why eleven hundred applicants applied for open teaching positions in the last twelve months.
The Board’s offer also speaks to the REA’s request for relief for the highest paid teachers contributing 35% of the cost of their health care premiums. The proposal of one-time yearly payments of $500, $1,000, and $1,500 would provide this requested relief from increased contributions.
The change to the health insurance plan would lower premium costs and give further relief to all REA members.
The REA Negotiating Team did not come to the table with a contract proposal on Wednesday night. There was no willingness to negotiate or compromise. Rather, the team told us that they would only accept the settlement recommended by the fact-finder as outlined in his May 15th report and again said that the district has the money to fund those recommendations.
The fact-finding report was made public and is posted on the district’s website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
The fact-finder’s recommended settlement would cost the district $4.4 million over and above the state-mandated 2% cap during the life of the contract. For this reason, to fund that settlement and to balance the budget, the Board would have to make critical cuts to staff and programs that would severely diminish the quality of the instructional and extra-curricular programs for our students.
Cuts would include firing teachers, secretaries and administrators; reducing the number of athletic and co-curricular activities; and lowering the amount spent for custodial services, textbooks, professional development, and technology.
When by the end of the July 20th meeting settlement was not reached, the super conciliator set the date of September 6 for our next meeting. The full Board will be there. In the meantime, the Board is preparing documents to share with the REA verifying that breakage — the cost difference between the salary of retirees and salaries of new employees — is not available revenue to fund the settlement proposed by the fact-finder.
The REA has accused the Board of not caring about our students, the district, and the staff. These charges are false. In fact, the Board’s concern for our students and their educational well being is the reason why we did not originally accept the fact-finder’s recommendations and continue to maintain our position.