Dozens Of West Orange Teachers, Staff May Lose Jobs

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Dozens of West Orange public school teachers and staff may lose their jobs if a bare-bones, proposed 2017-18 budget comes to fruition, administrators say.

Last week, West Orange Superintendent Jeffrey Rutzky confirmed to Patch that dozens of school staff positions detailed in the district’s March 22 budget presentation are still at risk under the proposed budget. The list of potential cuts includes 13 teachers, 20 full-time and four part-time paraprofessionals, two “supervisors,” two assistant principals and three administrative assistants.

But exactly which teachers and staff may end up on the unemployment line is still up in the air, officials say.

“There have been no decisions made about staffing cuts… since March 20,” the West Orange Board of Education wrote in a joint statement on April 19.

The proposed 2017-18 budget would also add four teachers, a principal and a custodian to the district’s payroll.

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West Orange property owners with a home priced at the average assessed value of $338,129 would face a $271 tax increase from last year if the proposed budget passes, school officials say.

School administrators will hold a hearing for the final budget on Monday, May 1 at West Orange High School from 8 to 9 p.m. See a copy of the preliminary budget presentation here.

TEACHER CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

Discussion about the potential staff cuts is taking place as heated contract negotiations reportedly draw to a close between the BOE and the West Orange Education Association, which represents the district’s teachers, paraprofessionals, administrative assistants, computer technicians and security officers.

Specific details about the “tentative” agreement have yet to be released, and the contract hasn’t been ratified by the union’s members, a WOEA representative told Patch last week.

However, school administrators said that the tentative agreement includes stipulations about “health benefits and salary” that will help administrators prevent an additional $1.3 million dollars in budget cuts that may have had to take place.

• See related article: West Orange Teachers, BOE Reach ‘Tentative’ Contract Agreement

Members of the labor union have been working without a contract for almost two years, officials say.

The contract negotiations reached a bitter stalemate over the past year, with West Orange teachers launching a high-profile boycott of the district’s annual Back-To-School Night in September of 2016.

• See related article: West Orange Teachers Boycott Back To School Night
• See related article: West Orange Teacher, BOE Contract Battle Continues

In December, Rutzky compared the increasingly bitter contract negotiations to the tragic Sandy Hook shooting in Newton, Connecticut, which claimed the lives of 20 children and six staff members in 2012.

• See related article: West Orange Superintendent Compares Union Talks to Sandy Hook Shooting

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Patch file photo