Brick School Board Seeks Mediator In Teacher Contract Talks

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Board of Education has requested a mediator for its negotiations with the district's teachers union on a new contract.

In a resolution passed Thursday night, the board said negotiations with the Brick Township Education Association have reached an impasse after eight months of meetings. The previous contract ended June 30, 2018. The two sides met eight times, including twice in October, after initial proposals were submitted by each side on March 6. The notice of impasse will be filed with the Public Employment Relations Commission, which will appoint the mediator.

The contract negotiations come at a difficult time for the district, which is faced with the loss of what school officials say is cumulatively $42 million over the next six years. The removal of the so-called adjustment aid comes as a result of the law pushed by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, who has contended Brick and other districts are not raising their fair share through property taxes and have declining enrollment and therefore no longer need it.

The district, which sought emergency aid after the state cut $1.9 million from the district in July for the 2018-19 school year, is among a group of districts suing the state Department of Educationover how it allocates money and the cuts. Brick's emergency aid request was rejected shortly before the Election Day/teachers convention break.

Board President Stephanie Wohlrab said the district is appealing the rejection.

Brick used $1.3 million in surplus and cut eight positions — six teaching positions and two proposed supervisory positions — in July, after having eliminated 31 teacher's aides and not filling 18 teaching positions when it formed the 2018-19 budget that received approval in May.

Superintendent Gerard Dalton said if the state's planned aid cuts go forward, the district could be faced with cutting more teachers and eliminating a number of programs, both academic and extracurricular. The reduction in aid also could mean returning to half-day kindergarten, after six years of offering full-day programming.

None of the possibilities are remotely palatable, Dalton said.

Brick is one about 100 districts whose teachers' contracts expired in June that have not reached new agreements yet. It has been a sore spot with the teaching staff in Brick, which has stepped away from supervising some extracurricular events, particularly at the elementary schools. Parent Teacher Associations have stepped in to provide adult supervision and keep things running where possible.

Victor Fanelli asked whether and how much of an offer was made to the teachers union, and Wohlrab said there were written offers back and forth but she declined to say what the board's offer entailed, citing the confidentiality of negotiations.

"Do you personally consider it (the board's offer) fair?" Fanelli asked. "Yes," Wohlrab said.

Fanelli also asked whether the union leadership had presented the offer to its membership and whether they had voted on it, and Wohlrab said she had no information on how the union leadership had proceeded.

"Do they understand the bind the district is in?" Fanelli asked. "I can't answer for them," Wohlrab said again.

"The concept of impasse is that both sides reached a point after they worked on issues jointly where they have not been able to come to an agreement," said Ben Montenegro, the board's attorney. "It's not throw your hands up and point a finger at both sides."

The Brick Township Education Association represents the district's teachers, teacher aides, nurses, special services personnel, librarians, student service personnel, athletic trainers, attendance officers, and instructional coaches.

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Photo via Brick Township Schools