By Eileen Oldfield
Contract woes could be at an end for Manville teachers, after the Manville Education Association (MEA) accepted a state-appointed fact-finder’s report on the contract negotiations during a general membership meeting Thursday.
New Jersey Education Association Representative Christy Kanaby said that, while the exact vote tally was unknown, the majority of the 160-member organization favored accepting the report.
"We are pleased to see the light at the end of the end of the tunnel in this process," MEA President Cathie Miskov said. "The MEA is hopeful that the board is just as willing to put this to rest. The MEA would like to extend our thanks to the Manville parents and community for their support during this interminable crisis."
Approving the report follows months of unsuccessful mediation sessions with the state’s first mediator, in an attempt to create a new teaching contract.
District teachers and staff have been working under their old contract, which expired June 30, 2007.
The fact-finder’s report contains both the MEA’s and Board of Education’s views, compiled from presentations each group made to the fact-finder, and the fact-finder’s recommendation on the contract.
In order for the report recommendations to go into effect, both the board and the MEA must accept the fact finder’s report.
Though Ms. Kanaby said the MEA received the report on Sept. 3, a state stipulation prevents the information from being released until 10 days after the parties receive the reports, and could not reveal further information until after the weekend.
The school board’s Negotiation Committee will meet with its negotiator to discuss the fact finder’s report prior to its Tuesday meeting, Board President and Negotiations Committee Chairman Andrew Zangara said. Presently, the committee does not have the full report, and would receive and review the full document prior to the Tuesday meeting.
The full board would meet in executive session for a second report review with the negotiator. In order to decide on the report, the board would need to enter a public session and vote to accept or reject the report.
If the board rejects the report, the parties go into "super conciliation" with a third mediator, and can be subject to daily or 24-hour bargaining session to produce a contract.
