Princeton’s school board has reached agreement on new contracts with two of its employee bargaining units, but not its teaching staff.
The board announced after a special meeting Wednesday night that the unions representing the support staff and the principals, assistant principals and supervisors had agreed to three-year contracts, according to a board statement issued after the meeting. Their current contracts expire on June 30.
The board and the teachers union remain in negotiations, although the sides failed to reach an agreement at their last meeting on May 4. The state-appointed mediator has referred the matter for fact-finding to the New Jersey Public Employees Relations Commission.
The board released details of its latest offer to the teachers. According to the Wednesday night statement, the offer “included an aggregate increase in compensation at the effective rates of 2.44 percent in year one (retroactive to July 1, 2014), 2.87 percent in year two and 2.79 percent in year three of the new contract. The board’s offer was contingent on PREA members remaining at their current “… premium contribution levels and implementing cost-saving measures similar to those agreed to by the other two unions.”
The Princeton Regional Support Staff Association agreed to salary increases of 2.5 percent in each of the contract’s three years, according to the board’s statement.
In addition, “the employees’ contributions to their healthcare premiums would remain at the highest Tier 4 levels set forth in the state law known as Chapter 78. However, because the union agreed to several significant cost-saving measures in their health-care benefits package, the board is able to provide some relief (in the form of non-cumulative annual stipends) to certain PRESSA employees in each of the contract years to offset their premium contribution increases.”
The statement said the PAA, representing principals, assistant principals and supervisors, will receive salary increases of 2.39 percent in year one, 2.38 percent in year two and 2.37 percent in year three. Longevity payments will remain flat. The PAA also agreed to cost-saving measures in their health-care plans in exchange for “vacation day buy-backs,” the statement said.
As for the board’s position with the teachers, Lewis Goldstein, assistant superintendent for human resources, said the fact-finding process can be lengthy and expensive.
“The process may take anywhere from six to 12 months and the fact-finder’s recommendation is non-binding. The unfortunate consequence of this extension is that until then, our educators will continue to work under the terms of the expired contract and without a salary increase, until the fact-finding is concluded and the parties reach an agreement,” he said at the Wednesday meeting.
Mr. Goldstein said the fact-finder could charge the parties between $1,600 to $2,500 per day for his or her services with the cost split equally between the parties.
