School employees seek new contract
Fact-finding meeting scheduled to be held on May 14
BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - Teachers and staff of the Ocean Township Public School System are continuing to work under the terms of a contract that expired in July.

Representatives of the Board of Education (BOE) and members of the Township of Ocean Education Association (TOEA) are scheduled to appear at a factfinding meeting onMay 14 to continue negotiations to reach an agreement for a contract.

The BOE and Superintendent of Schools Thomas Pagano sent a letter to township residents on April 16 stating that the board is "working diligently" to negotiate with the TOEA.

"The TOEA leadership has been and continues to be unwilling to negotiate unless the BOE removes the stipulation that new teachers hired after July 2001 pay 10 percent of their insurance premium," the board states in the letter.

The clause calling for teachers hired after 2001 to pay into their insurance premiums was approved by TOEA members in both 2001 and 2004, according to the letter.

The TOEA represents school district teachers, secretaries, maintenance workers and custodial staff.

"Now, in 2007, contract negotiations, after six years of contributions, the union believes that what has become the status quo is an unacceptable provision. The BOE rejects this position," board members wrote.

According to Gary Bahr, TOEA negotiations chairman and high school teacher, the TOEA approved the contract in 2004 with the unwritten stipulation that once teachers hired after 2001 reached tenure they would no longer be required to pay into their insurance premiums.

Bahr stated that when teachers hired in 2001 reached tenure in 2004, deductions continued to be taken out of their paychecks for health insurance.

"We had quite a few people who wrote a letter to the [former BOE] president stating that when they had their initial interviews in 2001, they were told that when they reached tenure they would not have to pay any more," Bahr said.

Bahr also questioned the validity of a portion of the letter, which reads, "Contributions to health care is a cost-containment measure that is important to our district and will be increasingly important in the years to come as we hire new teachers."

The letter further states, "The board is cognizant of the high property taxes we all pay and does its best to minimize the tax burden on the citizens of Ocean Township, while providing a great education to out children."

Bahr explained that the TOEA has asked the BOE in the past to explore different avenues for cost savings, such as changing insurance providers to cut costs.

He said that the TOEA estimated that the schools could save $833,000 by switching insurance providers, and the money they would be saving would allow for the 10 percent insurance contribution by tenured teachers to be eliminated.

Bahr said that the BOE did not take the suggestion from the TOEA because the board members said the $833,000 figure was not accurate and would inflate over time.

The fact-finding hearing will mark the second meeting between the BOE and the TOEA. The first meeting was held on March 27, where the TOEA presented its case.

The fact-finding meetings come in the wake of several months of regular negotiations. When an agreement wasn't reached during regular negotiation, the state appointed a mediator to help the two sides reach a settlement.

The two sides were also unable to reach an agreement with the help of the state-appointed mediator, and the BOE and the TOEA entered the third phase of the negotiations process, called fact-finding.

The BOE will present its case at the fact-finding meeting on May 14.

"While this has been a lengthy process, the board would like a resolution to the current stalemate sooner, rather than later," board members wrote in the letter.

"We remain committed to resolving this contract matter and providing the best education we can afford for our children while providing a competitive salary and benefits package to our outstanding staff," board members wrote.

To stay informed on the negotiations process, visit www.ocean.k12.nj.us.

TOEA has begun taking steps to protest the absence of a new contract, according to Bahr.

Teachers have stopped going into work earlier and have stopped staying at school any later than their contracts require.

"We've been working to our contract in our school buildings," Bahr said. "Meaning that we are showing up 15 minutes before the school day begins and leaving 15 minutes after it ends."

Teachers have also been offering students one after-school extra help session a week, something their contract requires, as opposed to several extra days a week, Bahr explained.

Approximately 150 TOEA members protested the lack of a contract settlement onApril 14 by picketing outside the homes of board members Michael Beson, Arthur Mahoney, Janet Surmonte and Raymond Menell, according to Bahr.