Custodial Staff Reductions Still an Issue for Board of Education Election

Several dozen teachers, other school personnel and borough residents attended Monday night’s Board of Education meeting at Thomas A. Edison School, but the large crowd remained calm and orderly during the proceedings, which briefly touched upon the most contentious issue of the budget proposal that goes to the residents for a vote on Wednesday – namely the possible cuts in custodial staff.

Regarding the possible elimination of seven of the 63 staffed custodians, and the potential privatization of those services, Superintendent Bruce Watson said, “The process is not yet finalized, but if we do have to move forward in that direction, nothing will change with regard to the safety of our students.”

Watson added that if the cuts are indeed made, the Board’s attorney has a proposed contract in place for incoming hirees, who will be subject to background checks and other scrutiny.

“We don’t want to cut back staff, but unfortunately, it may be a step we have to take in order to preserve educational programs,” he said.

One teacher, who asked not to be named, said he and his colleagues attended the meeting as a show of solidarity.

“We’ve been working without a contract since last year and we understand that this is a bad time in the economy, especially with budget cuts and all, but we need to show our faces and let them know we’re still here and we’re waiting for this to be resolved,” he said. “You can’t come out strong about an issue and then not show up for a few months. That’s when you get forgotten or put on the back burner.”

The Board and the teachers are in ongoing contract negotiations.

In other business, the Board announced a calendar change for the 2011-12 school year due to state mandated testing dates. Spring recess for 2012 will be from April 9-13 while the NJ ASK (Assessment of Skills and Knowledge) testing is scheduled for the week of April 23, 2012.

Several retirements were also announced, including an elementary classroom teacher, one custodian, and one bus driver.

In addition to the proposed $83,673,140 school budget that includes a $73,158,200 tax levy—an increase of 1.75 percent from 2010—three candidates, including Susan Gioia and incumbents Elyss Frenkel and John L. Mancinelli, are running for the three three-year terms in Wednesday’s election.

The Board will next convene for its reorganization meeting on Monday, May 2, when the election results will be discussed, among other agenda items.