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In Florence, union votes for wage freeze Burlington County Times
Gov. Chris Christie gets chilly reception at Montclair High School visit
Talks with Edison teachers stall
Chatham schools budget cuts positions, adds extracurricular fees
After losing $2.5 million in state aid, Cranford BOE approves proposed budget that eliminates 48 jobs, middle school sports
Asbury Pk Press school budget calls for 90 layoffs, other cuts
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In Florence, union votes for wage freeze
By: DAVID MACCAR
Burlington County Times
The action will allow the school district to save staff positions, including teachers.
dmaccar@phillyBurbs.com
FLORENCE - In the face of potentially severe cuts to staff and programs from a loss of more than $1.1 million in state aid, school district employees voted Monday to accept a wage freeze for the 2010-11 school year.
The freeze will allow the district to retain at least 12 of 14 staff positions that were on the chopping block in the proposed school budget, including eight teachers, according to Superintendent Louis Talarico.
"There was a possibility that a number of positions were going to be cut as well as extracurricular activities, JV sports and middle school sports, and the teachers voted 202-16 in favor of taking a pay freeze to save all but two positions," said Barbara Mayer, president of the Florence Township Education Association. "Unfortunately, all of our extracurriculars and sports are still going to be cut at this point, but at least we were able to save the teacher positions."
Along with the eight teachers, a high school librarian, elementary school librarian and guidance counselor, middle school guidance counselor and a custodian will be retained.
Talarico said he and Business Administrator Bruce Benedetti also accepted a pay freeze.
The proposed $26,867,019 budget submitted to the county for approval includes a tax levy of $16,279,948. With a tax rate of $2.64 per $100 of assessed property value, an increase of about 13 cents over 2009's rate of $2.51, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $119,100 would pay $3,150.91 in school taxes, about a $153 increase.
A budget review and public hearing will be held tonight at 7 in the high school atrium.
"We were able to get a high percentage of what we wanted to move our school forward and remain focused on getting these kids a great education," Talarico said.
Regarding the pay freeze, Mayer said the district and union were in a unique position this year as their contract expires June 30.
"We were getting ready to start the negotiations process anyway. We've been working with the board for the past couple weeks, pretty much around the clock," she said. "Finally, over the weekend, we were able to pull everything together. Everybody came in (Monday) morning at 7 a.m. and we had a meeting and they were able to vote during the day and we counted the ballots (Monday) afternoon."
Benedetti could not be contacted Tuesday for the amount of savings from the wage freeze. Talarico said
the number has fluctuated over the past week.
Mayer said the freeze will save the district about $490,000.
Talarico said the move allows the district to explore other avenues that may save some programs.
"The board is looking into + either having fundraisers or fees or any other option, maybe another ballot question, as far as trying to restore + extracurriculars and sports," he said. "We certainly + are a big supporter of sports. The board went through an enormous amount of meetings and analyzed and reviewed everything and kept making sure we (first) restore our educational programs."
Mayer said the union is involved as well.
"I know that we've been working very hard with the board to come up with some suggestions and solutions possibly to get those things reinstated and I'm hopeful that will come about," she said. "I'm very proud of my staff for taking a step that most districts in the state haven't done yet."
March 31, 2010
Gov. Chris Christie gets chilly reception at Montclair High School visit
By Statehouse Bureau Staff
March 30, 2010, 2:02PM
MONTCLAIR -- Dozens of protesting students crowded the halls of Montclair High School this morning, giving a rough welcome to Gov. Chris Christie as he visited to explain the effects of budget cuts and make his pitch for teachers to give up raises to save their colleagues' jobs.
At 11:15 a.m., between periods, the students gathered outside of a classroom that Christie was scheduled to visit holding hand-written signs, which threw off the scheduled event.
The students stood outside of the classroom holding signs that read “We respectfully disagree with your
disregard to education” and “Dear Christie, I would quote Shakespeare but my teacher was cut” for about five minutes before they were dispersed by the school principal.
Christie is in Montclair today because its school district is one of several statewide whose teachers have agreed to forgo a scheduled pay raise. The governor has said any district that passes on its contracted raises will mitigate layoffs and program cuts resulting from his proposed $820 million reduction in school aid.
Christie added another wrinkle today when he told the school districts that they would see extra money from the state if teachers accepted wage freezes.
Over the past few weeks, Christie has held carefully controlled, invitation-only events around the state as he explains the "tough choices" he has made with his $29.3 billion budget proposal.
Christie spoke to two classes of seniors studying U.S. government and politics, who had prepared questions for him about merit pay, mandating classes such as physical education, constitutional requirements for school funding and the effect of budget cuts on the gap between minority and white student learning.
One student said Christie’s plan seems like a one year solution, and asked what the governor’s back-up plan was if the economy does not improve.
Christie said that in the event of historic economic stagnation, there would be more pain for everybody.
“I don’t have every guarantee for you that things are going to get better,” Christie said.
One student in the class, Chloe Font, 18, said she liked hearing directly from the governor.
“He didn’t change my mind on what’s going on,” she said. “But it made me look at it in a whole new light.”
Sophomore Silas Kedengwa, who was among the group of students protesting, said they drew up signs at 9 a.m., shortly after learning that Christie was visiting the school. He said the protest was organized by students.
“We think it’s not fair,” he said. “We feel like it’s not right to take from education when we’re trying to learn.”
By Matt Friedman and Lisa Fleisher.
Talks with Edison teachers stall
By Brent Johnson/For The Star-Ledger
March 30, 2010, 8:04PM
EDISON -- The Edison school district and teachers’ union are wrangling over a proposal for union members to accept a wage freeze and start contributing to their health coverage — a plan that could save about 50 jobs.
After the contract renegotiations stalled today, officials will discuss the agreement at the school board’s public budget hearing at 7 Wednesday night at J.P. Stevens High School.
Residents can also comment on the massive job and program cuts looming under next year’s proposed budget for the 14,400-student district, Middlesex County’s largest.
Similar to districts across New Jersey, Edison is struggling with a nearly $10 million reduction — or 55-percent cut — in its state aid. On the chopping block are 168 jobs, middle-school sports, summer school, Saturday detention and school board-funded class trips.
But the Edison teachers’ union has proposed freezing wages next year and deferring the third year of its current contract for one year. That essentially would add a fourth year to the current agreement.
Union officials said that would save the district about $3 million.
The union has also proposed its members make a 1.5-percent contribution to their medical benefits, saving between $300,000 and $400,000, union officials said.
Daniel Michaud, Edison’s school business administrator, said the savings could prevent about 50 people from losing their jobs.
But Michaud said talks between the district and union the past few days haven’t produced an agreement.
“If they’re willing to talk, we’re willing to talk,” Michaud said. “But so far, there hasn’t been much movement.”
Union president Emil Ferilicchi could not be reached for comment today.
Meanwhile, two Edison school board members said they were forced out of the negotiations. The board noted last week that only Gene Maeroff and Aimee Szilagyi could speak with the union because the other seven members had conflicts of interest.
But Maeroff said when he and Szilagyi arrived, they were told Michaud would be handling the district’s side, as ordered by board president David Dickinson.
“Dan Michaud is not an elected representative of the people,” an angry Maeroff said yesterday. “We are.”
Dickinson said he appointed Michaud because he had already negotiated with the other unions in the district.
“He’s perfectly capable to negotiate with them,” he said.
Chatham schools budget cuts positions, adds extracurricular fees
By Sarah Schillaci/For the Star-Ledger
March 30, 2010, 4:01PM
CHATHAM--Facing sweeping cuts in state aid and a growing enrollment, the board of education for the School District of the Chathams approved a budget Monday night that eliminates positions while adding additional fees for high school students.
The $54.2 million operating budget, which voters will vote on during the April 20 school board elections, represents a 4.1 percent increase in operating budget.
About 3,900 students from Chatham Borough and Chatham Township attend kindergarten through 12th grade in the district, considered one of the highest-performing districts in the state. But after losing 86 percent of its aid from the state, district officials were forced to pare down staffing and put off capital expenditures in order to minimize tax increases.
For house assessed at $700,000, taxes will increase $193 a year in the borough and $129 in the township.
The budget adds a $150 activity fee required of any high school student who participates in any extracurricular activities.
“It seemed that this is more palatable than saying, ‘We’re going to have to cut swimming, wrestling, hockey, something else,’” Superintendent James O’Neill said Monday night.
The school board had presented a preliminary budget two weeks ago, and then sent the budget to be reviewed by Kathleen Serafino, the executive county superintendent.
Among the first round of proposed cuts were a special education supervisor, the district technology coach, a fifth grade teacher and a part-time kindergarten teacher. The district also planned on forgoing $185,000 worth of new equipment and $1 million in capital improvements.
But Serafino recommended an additional $750,000 in cuts in the budget, including eliminating instructional aides in first through third grades, cutting a library software upgrade and adding the participation fees for high school students.
Because the elementary aides also supervised lunch, the revised budget included an additional $81,900 expenditure for new lunch aides.
Several capital improvements are planned for the next school year, including roof repairs at three schools and macadam replacement at Chatham Middle School. The budget also adds several additional teachers to accommodate the district’s growing population, and institutes a Mandarin language program at the middle and high schools.
After losing $2.5 million in state aid, Cranford BOE approves proposed budget that eliminates 48 jobs, middle school sports
By Leslie Murray/Star Ledger
March 30, 2010, 11:38AM
CRANFORD—The Cranford Board of Education unanimously approved a $46.2 million budget which will eliminate 48 jobs, including eight teachers and all kindergarten aids, stop maintenance programs, cut middle school sports and end regular education summer school offerings during their March 29 budget hearing.
In a meeting that drew about 150 residents, along with Assemblyman Jon Bramnick and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-21), the board outlined a budget which was shaped in large part by a $2.59 million lose in state aid, a 77.5 percent drop from the aid the district received for the 2009-2010 school year.
Superintendent of Schools Gayle Carrick, who began her comments on the budget presentation with an apology, and School Business Administrator Robert Carfagno, outlined the proposed spending plan for the district, explaining that cuts had been made across the board.
Carrick, who added in a footnote of one slide in the presentation that she and the district’s two assistant superintendents had volunteered to forgo raises for this year as part of the budget, said that shared service agreement negotiations with another district could offer more saves along with a move that had the assistant superintendents taking on additional responsibilities.
The moves that drew the most comments from residents were the elimination of staff positions and middle
school sports.
While no specific staff members were named during the meeting the board approved cutting one vice principal, three supervisors, two librarians/media specialists, eight classroom teachers, all kindergarten aids, selected special education aids, two clerical/ secretarial staff members, one full-time and one part-time building service jobs, and one member of the support staff.
Additionally the budget calls the elimination of all middle school sports and regular education summer school, cuts to a large number of co-circular programs including school clubs, and cuts of 10 to 20 percent to all department budgets.
The board will make two additional budget presentations, one on April 8 at Hillside Avenue School and another on April 13 at Orange Avenue School. Both presentations will begin at 7 p.m.
Asbury Pk Press school budget calls for 90 layoffs, other cuts
BRICK — The Board of Education plans to lay off 90 faculty and staff among other drastic cuts to close a hole created by the Christie administration's cuts in aid to schools throughout the state.
The deep cuts were announced Tuesday before a public hearing was held on the budget.
"The preparation of the 2010-11 budget is the most difficult we have ever faced," Superintendent Walter Hrycenko said. The public hearing on the budget was continuing as of 9 p.m.
The school district is losing $6.8 million in state aid next year, which is a 17.4 percent cut from 2009-10.
Overall, district spending will be down about $1 million, or .74 percent next school year. The tax levy, however, will be more than $94 million, which is an increase of about 4.8 percent, district Business Administrator James Edwards said.
The school board will cut 54 teachers, 18 support staff (bus drivers and custodians), nine administrators and nine teacher aides.
Secretaries, department supervisors and district supervisors all have agreed to take a pay freeze this year and contribute 1.5 percent of their salaries to their medical benefits.
The teachers union and the Transport Workers Union have been approached about taking pay freezes, but the unions have not made a decision yet, board member Walter Pifko said.
If the two unions accept pay freezes, the savings will be used to bring teachers back to the classrooms, Pifko said.
Middle school sports will be eliminated completely. Some high school sports also will be eliminated, but district officials did not list them.
Other nonathletic extracurricular activities in the middle and high schools also will be cut. Those programs were not be listed, either. Field trips paid for by the school district — trips to Havens Homestead or Jenkinson's Aquarium — also were nixed. Field trips paid for by parents of students — to Medieval Times and Broadway plays — will still continue, however.
Average class sizes are expected to increase in elementary schools to about 25 from 22. And the average class size in middle schools will increase too. One parent complained that her son's middle school algebra class already has 35 students in it.
School districts throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties have been making similar cuts. Middletown plans to eliminate 124 positions. Plumsted schools will cut 28 people, school plays middle school sports and field trips.
Marlboro will cut 27 positions
