Township asks for reopened contract after voters reject budget for schools
By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
ROBBINSVILLE As the Township Council prepared to undertake its review of the defeated $38.2 million school budget, Mayor Dave Fried said Tuesday that he was “disappointed” to be told by the teachers union leadership that they would not reopen their contracts to consider salary freezes or other cost-cutting givebacks.
”This puts the council in a very difficult position,” Mayor Fried said. “What’s most disappointing is that they haven’t even allowed their membership to vote on this.”
Mayor Fried and Township Council President Rich Levesque announced at the May 6 council meeting that they had sent a letter to Birch Wilson, head of the Robbinsville teachers union, asking him to reopen the contract in an effort to save jobs and prevent even larger class sizes. Mayor Fried said the union had responded with a letter on Tuesday “declining our suggestions.”
Mr. Wilson did not return phone calls from The Messenger-Press.
”I’m not asking these folks to do anything I haven’t asked our own staff to do,” Mayor Fried said at council meeting. “There’s got to be some shared sacrifice.”
The school budget defeated by Robbinsville voters April 20 carried an 11-cent increase in the school tax rate and had already included teacher layoffs and program cuts to compensate for the loss of $1.7 million in state aid. Under state law, all defeated school budgets are sent to the municipal governing body, which has the power to strike a new school tax levy and make recommendations on where corresponding cuts could be made.
The Township Council had set its review of the defeated school budget for a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday night, after The Messenger-Press deadline. (See The Messenger-Press’ website at www.centraljersey.com for an update.)
In their letter, Mr. Fried and Mr. Levesque wrote that $650,000 could be saved if teachers accepted a one-year wage freeze, and another $200,000 could be saved if teachers agreed to contribute 1.5 percent of their salaries toward their health-care insurance plans.
Mr. Levesque said at the May 6 council meeting that these givebacks would “go a long way” toward reducing the need for further layoffs and even larger class sizes.
School Superintendent Steven Mayer said Monday the defeated school budget had been a lean plan, in spite of the tax increase it carried. The budget had already called for the layoffs of 17 teachers, nine instructional aides, one curriculum supervisor and all school lunch aides. Program cuts included the elimination of the world language program for grades K-6 and providing only Spanish for grades 7 and 8. Also affected by cuts were the music, arts, drama and life skills courses, and the gifted and talented program.
”We’ve already made significant cuts to programs and staff,” Mr. Mayer said Monday. “I think the budget speaks for itself.”
The Robbinsville Principals and Supervisors Association had agreed to voluntarily freeze their salaries before the school budget went to voters, Mr. Mayer said.
As for the teachers, their contract is a legally binding document and their salaries cannot be frozen or changed by the school board or Township Council without the union’s consent, Mr. Mayer explained. Robbinsville teachers are now in the second year of a three-year pact, he said. Year three of the contract, which begins July 1, provides salary increases of about 4 percent, he said.
According to School Report Card statistics posted online by the state Department of Education, the median salary for a Robbinsville teacher with nine years of classroom experience was $49,846 in 2008-09, compared to the state average of $59,545.
The school budget failed by 270 votes last month with 31 percent of the township’s registered voters going to the polls.
The $38.2 million spending plan carried a $31.4 million tax levy that would have increased the school tax rate 11 cents to $1.37 per $100 in assessed property value. A property owner with a house assessed at $400,000 would have had to pay $5,480 in school taxes if the budget had been approved by voters.
The average townshipwide assessment is now $387,781, according to county tax officials.
The township has until May 19 to certify the new school tax levy. The school board can then adopt the new levy or appeal the council’s decision to the state Department of Education.