Monday rally in Trenton expected to impact Princeton, West Windsor-Plainsboro
By: Molly Petrilla
As many New Jersey educators prepare for a battle with state officials, administrators in local school districts are working to ensure that Monday will be business as usual for their institutions and students.
Many teachers in the Princeton, West Windsor-Plainsboro and Montgomery school districts say they plan to attend a large rally Monday in Trenton, but representatives from all three districts emphasized that classes will be in session that day though each district is approaching the situation differently.
State legislators last month released a list of 98 recommendations aimed at reducing property taxes in New Jersey. Many of the items on the list dealt with public schools, and representatives of the New Jersey Education Association claim the legislation would adversely affect educators’ pensions, medical benefits and collective-bargaining rights.
The NJEA has scheduled a rally from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the State House to tell state legislators to "just back off."
And while NJEA members formulate a plan of attack to lobby for their sick leave buy-outs and pension benefits, school officials have been determining how to keep their schools running smoothly Monday.
Princeton Superintendent Judith Wilson said she and other district officials have been working closely with the Princeton Regional Education Association to "ensure a balance of support for the rally … and order and instruction for all of our students in the district on Monday."
According to Ms. Wilson, approximately 40 teachers from the district will take personal days to attend the rally.
Ms. Wilson said the district is working to line up substitutes, adding that teachers within the district will be "making sacrifices to cover the home front."
She explained, "We have been working on a plan, building by building, to put in place Monday morning limiting the number of teachers on personal leave … and also ensuring that we have optimum coverage so there’s not a major disruption to any of the educational processes."
As of Thursday afternoon, plans in the West Windsor-Plainsboro district were somewhat more tentative.
Communications Director Gerri Hutner said more than 500 of the district’s 1,289 staff members had requested to take personal days on Monday, but that the number could decrease significantly after a meeting between the teachers’ union and district administrators scheduled for Thursday evening to discuss what a "reasonable" number of teacher absences would be.
"They’ve met throughout the week to work on just that question," Ms. Hutner added. "Other districts may have had a similar number of teachers showing interest, they’ve just finished figuring it out they’ve gotten to the finish line."
According to Ms. Hutner, the district has "a very large base of substitutes" whom officials have contacted regarding Monday.
"We plan to have a workable program in place Friday with every intent of keeping schools open," she added.
Of the three districts, Montgomery is likely to be the least affected by the planned rally.
The district’s public information officer, Anna Murphy, said only four or five teachers had scheduled personal or vacation days in order to attend the rally a number she described as "perfectly manageable."
She added, "The number of teachers that have requested for substitutes for that day is no more than what we’ve had for any other day. We have enough substitutes on hand. It’s just like managing any other day."
And while Princeton and West Windsor-Plainsboro district officials have been working closely with their union representatives, Ms. Murphy said Montgomery officials had not spoken to their staff about the rally, noting, "We typically don’t get involved in association events."

