Members of the governing body chastised the Board of Education for ratifying a new contract on March 15 with the Millstone Township EducationAssociation (MTEA), the union representing teachers and staff.
At the May 5 Township Committee meeting, Committeeman Fiore Masci said the governing body had not yet finalized a resolution certifying the general fund tax levy for the school district’s budget. Mayor Nancy Grbelja said the committee would make a final decision by May 10.
Masci asked board President Tom Foley if the district could reopen negotiations with the MTEA to prevent job and program losses and to retain school bus drivers. Foley said the district sent a letter to the union’s attorney through the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA).
The newly negotiated contract does not provide a salary increase to MTEA members this year. The contract increases MTEA member salaries 6 percent in the second year and 4.25 percent in the third year. All district employees had to move to the state health care plan for the 2010-11 school year, which saved the district $300,000, according to Foley.
Before the March 15 contract ratification, Foley said the Monmouth County executive superintendent of schools had informed the district that the worst-case scenario would be losing 15 percent state aid for the 2010-11 school budget, and the district budgeted accordingly. He also said that state Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler told district representatives to expect a 15 percent cut in state aid. On March 17, the district learned that the state aid cut would be nearly twice that amount, at 29.5 percent.
Masci, who attended the Schundler meeting with Foley, noted that state Sen. Jennifer Beck told both of them that Schundler had yet to meet with Gov. Chris Christie, who would ask for more cuts.
Committeeman Mike Kuczinski said to Foley, “You, as president of the board, went ahead and negotiated a contract with no money in your pocket with the MTEA. You knew you would be cut, but didn’t know the extent. That’s a wild card you’ve got to plan for. These are historically desperate times.
According to Foley, the MTEA contract was settled in January. Prior to that, the NJEA audited the budget and saw that there was no money for teachers. All of the information pertaining to the contract settlement was posted on the district’s website, he said. When the district got the news about the state aid cuts on March 17, the board wanted to rescind the contract. The board’s legal counsel advised against doing that, Foley said.
Committeeman Gary Dorfman said there are troubling and challenging issues with the scenario. He alleged that Foley signed the contract on March 25, after losing $1.6 million in aid. Foley said that he didn’t have to sign the contract, since it would have been put into ef- fect anyway.
Dorfman said that all of the parties in the contract settlement knew that there were forces beyond their control that would limit the board’s ability to live up to the agreement.
Deputy Mayor Bob Kinsey said the economy has progressively worsened, and asked why the board didn’t take a tough budget stance this year.
“Increases are supposed to keep pace with inflation,” Kinsey said. “We’re now in a deflationary environment.”
Foley said this is the third consecutive year in which district spending is less than the prior year’s spending, which no other district in the state has done.
Masci said there must be a change in the way New Jersey schools are funded.
“It will require sacrifice on all sides,” he said.