the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the on again off gain teachers agreement is on again ,on November 19th the Ridgewood Education Association announced the REA and the Ridgewood Board of Education once again have reached a tentative agreement regarding a contract settlement.
Early November the REA was notified by the Board of Education that they are no longer in agreement with the contract settlement negotiated with the assistance of a state appointed mediator on Oct. 9. The issue pertains to the new salary guides that by agreement must be agreed upon by both parties. We submitted guide proposals to the Board on Oct. 10 and they waited almost three weeks to tell us they found them unacceptable and that they have a misunderstanding as to what the settlement actually means. Upon first learning this on Oct. 30 The REA informed the Board how they interpret the settlement and met again with the Board’s negotiating team on Friday to reiterate that point.
The BOE Negotiations Committee had issued the following statement: The Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) and the Ridgewood Education Association’s (REA) negotiating teams signed a Memorandum of Agreement on October 9, 2018. That agreement states that “Salary distribution and salary guide construction shall be mutually arrived at by the parties and are subject to Board approval.”
As in all negotiations, the salary guides deserve a diligent review, as they are the mechanism for paying our teachers and secretaries, whose base annual salaries total nearly $45 million.
The Board believes that the salary guide developed by the REA is inconsistent with the mutually agreed upon Memorandum of Agreement signed by the negotiating teams of both parties.
The financial impact of the difference is less than 0.2%, (two-tenths of one percent) over the three-year life of the contract. *
The BOE intends to honor the agreement signed on October 9 as we understand it and urges the REA to do so as well.
The BOE stands ready to work to resolve any outstanding issues with the REA.
As always, the teachers will continue to receive all salaries and benefits in accordance with the previous contract during negotiations.
Vincent Loncto and Jennie Smith Wilson
BOE Negotiating Team
*The difference amounts to $288 thousand out of a total of $146 million in salaries over the life of the contract.
