Updated: BOE Signs Off on Contract with Administrators

Updated 12/23: At a special meeting Wednesday night, the Millburn Board of Education voted to enter into a three-year contract with the school administrators in which the administrators would get a 2 percent raise each year for three years and a $2,000 one-time payment to offset medical expenses incurred because the district switched to a POS health care plan at the end of the last contract. 

The district and the teacher's union have still not come to an agreement, even after months of mediation, differing still on the issues of a salary increase, what percentage of the savings from the health plan should go to the teachers and how much of the additional out-of-pocket medical expenses should be paid to the teachers.

Board Member Mark Zucker read a lengthy statement outlining the history of the negotiations and the impasse that was reached last February.

"The board cannot have everything it wants. The teachers cannot have everything they want," Zucker said in a statement he read at the meeting. "I want to make one thing clear: The inability of the district and the teachers to come to terms is soley a reflection of fiscal reality and is not a commentary on our respect for the accomplishments of the teaching staff."

The vote to ratify the Administration contract was 8-1, with Jean Pasternak voting no, stating that she is concerned about agreeing to a contract before the district has a vision or strategic plan in place. The health benefits question passed 9-0.

"We are all anxious to eliminate the uncertainty caused by having our teachers and administrators working without an updated, current contract in place, but our decision as a board not only has to address the short-term uncertainty but also has to consider the long-term impact of the proposed contract on the district," Pasternak said in a prepared statement.  "It is unfortunate we are making this decision before we've developed the district's vision for the future of our schools. My ability to evaluate the impact on the district could not clearly be determined without that in place." 

Teachers their lack of contract and were unhappy that the board changed their health insurance benefits away from the bargaining table, without negotiating or discussing it beforehand, said MEA president Lois Infanger.

The MEA filed an Unfair Practice Charge with the Public Employment Relations Commission, and both the administrators and the teachers have asked the board to provide benefits through the State Employees Health Benefit Plan instead of Oxford - a change Zucker said would save both teachers and the district thousands of dollars.

But the board had to meet and vote on the issue by Wednesday night in order to be able to make that change on April 1.

The teachers union has given the board a "final offer" and the board, during executive session on Wednesday, gave Zucker and the negotiations committee, which includes Board Member Sam Levy, the go-ahead to adjust its offer a little in an attempt to reach an agreement.

If none can be reached, the matter would go into a "fact finding" proceedings, which could take until April or later, he said.

MEA President Lois Infanger said that as far as health care is concerned, MEA has offered this option four years ago and earlier this year and in both cases, the board was not interested. And earlier this year, unilaterally changed the health care plan, causing the MEA to file the unfair practice charge.

"Health insurance is a subject for collective bargaining," Infanger said Thursday. "Last night, the BOE unilaterally changed the health insurance without negotiating."

Union representatives say it is rare for Millburn teachers to go this long - more than 160 days so far - without a contract, and the longer the negotiations  dragged on, the more teachers joined in the protests.

Both sides have said they would like to come to an agreement - orignally they wanted that to happen before the school year began and then said they had hoped to get it done by the end of the year.

Infanger said the terms of the administrator's contract were never offered to the MEA but hopes that the parties can reach a solution soon.

"The MEA continues to hope for and work toward a fair contract," Infanger said.

The economy has made it a difficult year for negotiations but, Zucker said, "the board obviously recognizes the district's acheivements and the contribution its employees have made to the district and continues to desire to find a way to put this whole situation behind us."

Regarding the administrators contract, Pasternak said, "I’ve heard in deliberations that we can afford the new MASA contract, but this assumes that nothing substantially changes in our educational system.  I question whether we want a school system where nothing changes.  The world is changing around us very quickly and we haven't determined how we want to position the district to meet those challenges."