Last Ditch Effort To Settle Hillsborough Contract Is Unsuccessful

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — A last ditch effort by the Hillsborough Township Board of Education and the Hillsborough Education Association to try and settle contract negotiations before the state steps in was unsuccessful. Both sides met for nearly nine hours on Sunday but were unable to reach a tentative agreement on a new three year contract.

Judy Haas, President of the BOE said, "We deeply value the contributions of our staff and we presented what we believe to be a fair settlement offer."

The meeting was held to try and avoid the expense and time associated with a formal fact finding hearing.

Although a settlement could not be reached progress was made, the HBOE stated in a release.

"Significant progress was made on nearly all outstanding issues, but regrettably, an agreement could not be reached on salary and the restructuring of tuition reimbursement. We are now awaiting a date from the fact finder," stated the HBOE.

"While the board is correct that the two items that remain unresolved are salaries and tuition reimbursement, they failed to mention that they refused to settle one without the other," said HEA president, Henry Goodhue. "As we have made clear over the last few months, HEA members are standing firm and demanding only the best for borough that includes an unwillingness to watch our tuition reimbursement opportunities erode and salaries fall behind. Our students deserve highly trained educators and we are determined to protect the excellence in our schools. We believe that actions speak louder than words and look forward to seeing this resolved in fact finding."

The state will now have to appoint a fact-finder to come in and schedule a formal hearing where the BOE and HEA will submit their final proposals and evidence to support their last offers.

The fact-finder will then issue a report and make a recommendation for a settlement. This process will likely take several months and not finish until later in the school year.

The fact-finder's recommendation will not be binding upon either side and the costs for the services of the fact-finder are the responsibility of both the BOE and HEA.

Hillsborough teachers and staff have been working under the expired agreement at their current salaries and benefits since the contract expired on June 30.

Negotiations on both sides have been ongoing over the past seven months with no luck. Negotiations continue to fall apart over critical issues including salary, the work day for part-time employees, tuition reimbursement criteria and the length and content of professional learning communities.

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