Parents Fear for College-Prepping Students Over Contract Stalemate

The lack of a new contract between the West Morris Regional High School District Board of Education and the teacher’s association has spilled outside of the classroom, and parents of students in the district are becoming increasingly more concerned.

In a letter to the community last week, the board of education explained that teachers within the district will begin to curtail their extra help offerings as well as other duties not included in their most recent contract.

Those include additional assistance during lunch periods and writing letters of recommendation for students applying to colleges and universities, among others.

It was the college assistance that sparked fear in students and parents alike, as was shown at the school board’s Monday night meeting at West Morris Central High School.

“How do we allay our children’s fears?” asked Jennifer Mcloughlin of Long Valley to the board. She was assured, along with other parents who asked similar questions, that teachers would resume writing college recommendation letters in September, regardless of contract settlement between the two sides, according to Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast.

For now, however, the teacher’s association said it will not write letters for the remainder of the school year and summer.

Guidance counselors, however, will still write letters if requested, Pendergrast said. As is required in the current contract, teachers are available for one additional hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Fact-Finding Mission

Both the board and teachers are waiting patiently for a fact-finding report, which is expected to come before the district’s next meeting in June. The fact-finding report is conducted by a third party and brings recommendations for concessions and demands for both sides. The report is non-binding and is used as a baseline for negotiations.

The teacher’s association is about to end its second full year without an accord, so any new contract would already include two years of retro pay and start the ball rolling on any negotiations needed for future contracts.

Contracts come in the form of three, four, and five-year pacts under New Jersey law. The district’s most recent contract was for four years, but was not settled until the union went without the agreement for two full years. A three-year deal on a new contract, if settled soon, would likely put both sides back at the negotiations table in December of this year to begin working on a new agreement.

The next West Morris Regional Board of Education meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, June 15 at West Morris Mendham High School.