Point Pleasant Beach Residents Support Educators At BOE Meeting

Approximately 30 community members packed the Point Pleasant Beach Elementary School Media Center to support educators during a recent Board of Education meeting.

The group joined about 100 educators to hear the board’s comments on Feb. 26 on recent contract negotiations, and its reason for refusing to join educators in the classroom at the invitation of the Point Pleasant Beach Education Association, the association said.

For the past 10 months, the PPB Board of Education Negotiations Committee has been engaged in talks with the union for a new contract.

The parties' present agreement expired on June 30, 2018. They have been unable to reach a settlement based on differences concerning health care provisions and contributions.

State legislation passed in 2011 mandated that public employees, including educators, contribute up to 35 percent of their annual health care premiums.

Because of steep annual increases in premium costs instituted by insurance companies, health care contributions for educators have quickly surpassed salary increases, the association says.

Public school employees across the state are seeing negative dollar amounts when comparing their current paychecks to the take-home pay of prior years, the association says. Many have taken second jobs to make up the difference, curtailing their ability to participate in volunteer activities that enrich their students’ educational experiences beyond the classroom.

Ed Vasquez, who supports the association, addressed this issue during the meeting. “In times of economic growth and prosperity, no one should take a pay cut,” said Vasquez. “It’s a simple principle.”

The PPBEA and school board negotiated a freeze on employee health benefit contributions in 2016 in exchange for a reduced level of coverage. The association reports that the board now wants to increase employee contributions without restoring their previous level of coverage.

In Ocean County, approximately 50 percent of school districts have negotiated some form of health benefit contribution relief to reduce costs to employees. Relief actions are on the rise as more and more districts agree that it is unsustainable to require that employees take home less in their paychecks each year, according to the association.

The board’s attempt to publicize the association’s requests during negotiations upset residents who spoke out during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Maria Mallon, parent of a PPB high school student, feels fortunate to live in a welcoming town where the high school is ranked number one in Ocean County. She attributes the high ranking to the expertise of PPB school employees.

“This district is one of the best in the state,” said Mallon. “This district didn’t get the rating it did because of [the board], but because of the excellent and above average work of the PPBEA.”

Parent Joylene Rock also spoke in support of her son’s educators.

“My husband and I visited schools all along the Jersey shore,” said Rock. “We chose Antrim and paid tuition for two years. We are here because of the amazing schools.”

Parents also admonished the board for revealing details of negotiations through district and other media, according to the association. Tom Highton Jr. felt that the board’s decision to publicly divulge the contents of negotiations was a violation of trust that undermines the basis of the entire process.

As a parent, Highton hopes that educators will remain in PPB. He is concerned they will seek employment in other districts that foster better relationships with staff.

The board revealed that the PPBEA suggested reinstating some form of health care coverage for approximately 15 paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals had health care provided by the district in the past.

PPBEA President Joanna Douglas reports that the association is trying to negotiate similar conditions for the paraprofessionals as the other units within the association.

“These employees are essential to the educational process,” said Douglas. “They are irreplaceable in the lives of the children they work with.”

The PPBEA invited board members to shadow paraprofessionals during the school day. Similar to the Teacher for a Day program (njea.org/tfad) shadowing events are promoted throughout the state by districts who wish to form a strong bond with their communities.

The board refused the invitation, according to the association. They stated one of the reasons as being concerned over the negotiation process becoming a disruption of their educational mission.

Douglas feels that having board members shadow paraprofessionals would help them understand the work that paras do. She noted that their reasons for refusal are not based on legal statute or common practice.

“To suggest that shadowing would somehow lead to a disruption is an unfortunate response to our goodwill effort to welcome the board into our classrooms and work environment,” said Douglas.

Douglas says that staff members are doing everything they can to ensure that the current conflict with the board over negotiations will not affect students. She considers it an honor to teach PPB children.

“The PPBEA wants the community to know that our devotion to your children will not stop, regardless of the board of education’s unsustainable demands on our members,” said Douglas. “Short of having to get second and third jobs to support our own families, we plan to continue supervising activities for our students.”

Parent Amy Cholewa feels the respect and caring between parents and educators is mutual.

There isn’t one teacher that hasn’t helped my son,” said Cholewa. “Every experience I’ve had with Antrim teachers has been a positive one.”