Millstone teachers rally for better salary, benefits

BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

A Millstone Township School District teacher greets community members attending the Spring concert at the elementary school on May 25 with a sign of support for fair and equitable contract negotiations. Millstone Township School District employees made their contract dispute public in front of the elementary school last week.

As members of the community filed into Millstone Township Elementary School on May 25 for the spring concert, they were met by almost 200 teachers, bus drivers and other employees dressed in blue shirts and wearing "Settle Now" as they rallied for better pay.

"I think it's clear from this turnout that we are committed to settling a fair contract now," Arlene Agulnick, president of the Millstone Township Education Association (MTEA), told the crowd. "I think it's clear that we are united."

Contract negotiations between the MTEA and the Millstone Township Board of Education broke down after January, according to Irene Pearson, the negotiations chairwoman for the MTEA.

JENNIFER KOHLHEPP A group of Millstone Township School District teachers rallies outside of the Millstone Township Elementary School on May 25. "We have not been able to meet with the board since January," Pearson said prior to the first mediation session, which took place after the rally. "The board canceled our February meeting and informed us that it would not meet with us until the Board of Education budget went to the public.

"This is the first time something like this has ever happened," Pearson said. "It was upsetting to all of us."

The Board of Education's current contract with the MTEA - which represents about 250 of the school district's teachers, nurses, counselors, secretaries, paraprofessionals, computer technicians, custodians and bus drivers - expires June 30, according to Agulnick.

The association had requested face-to-face bargaining sessions with the board beginning Dec. 5. After the fourth meeting on Jan. 24, the board canceled all further sessions so the MTEA filed an impasse, according to Pearson.

"The board refused to bargain in good faith and offered a compensation package that would put its employees further behind the county average," Pearson said.

During the rally, MTEA members distributed informative fliers and held up signs containing messages such as "With salaries so low, expect good teachers to GO!"

According to information compiled by the MTEA, the average Millstone teacher salary ranks 49th out of the 53 school districts in Monmouth County. The average salary for a teacher in Monmouth County last year was $55,773; the average salary for a Millstone teacher was $48,972. The lowest average teacher's salary in Monmouth County last year was $41,642.

The maximum Millstone salary ranks 35th out of the 48 school districts that reported salaries in the county last year. It takes a teacher 21 years to reach the top of the salary guide, according to the information presented by the MTEA.

Of the districts that employ and report the salaries of full-time educational support professionals, the average custodian salary in Millstone ranks 23rd out of 32; the average paraprofessional salary ranks 29th out of 31; and the average secretary salary ranks 34th out of 38.

"The board can and should provide a fair settlement," Agulnick said, "that keeps with what other districts in Monmouth County can receive.

"That's the only way to keep Millstone competitive," she added.

According to Pearson, placing Millstone teachers' salaries even further behind the county's average would have a detrimental effect on Millstone's ability to attract and retain the best teachers and support professionals.

After the rally, the contract dispute went into a closed mediation session with a state-appointed neutral because the MTEA had filed the impasse with the Public Employee Relations Commission.

The state's Public Employee Relations Commission appointed a mediator to review both parties' last proposals and to help them reach a compromise.

When asked on Tuesday how the mediation session went, Board of Education member Kathy Winecoff said the parties have come to a tentative agreement. However, both parties must ratify the negotiations, according to Winecoff.

"The MTEA needs to ratify it first," Winecoff said, "and then it comes to the board."

Winecoff said the board had not heard from the MTEA as of Tuesday, but due to the holiday weekend the MTEA may not have had an opportunity to schedule a meeting to look over the tentative agreement.

"I expect to talk to Arlene Agulnick in the next couple of days," Winecoff said.

Agulnick did not respond to phone calls made to her by press time on Wednesday.

According to Dawn Hiltner, the New Jersey Education Association's (NJEA) associate director for communications-organizing and coalition building, the mediation session between the board and the MTEA continued until after 1 a.m. the morning of May 26.

Hiltner said the parties did reach a tentative agreement, but that "now they have to hammer out the details of the settlement."

"When you have a tentative agreement," Hiltner said, "even though it has not been ratified, it means that everything has been pretty much settled.

"The parties have agreed on the salary amount and the benefits," she said, "but now there has to be a distribution of the settlement among the employees."

Hiltner said the next step in the process includes working on the salary guide. She said this includes creating a basic salary schedule, which is like a grid that provides a basis for distributing salaries according to a professional's years of experience, education and other factors.

"Meetings in which they work on the salary guide are pretty low-key," Hiltner said. "Both parties should ratify everything in a couple of months. You shouldn't see them out there in their blue shirts again."

Although mediation only lasted for one session in Millstone, it could go on for three. Negotiations could also go into what are called fact-finding and super-conciliation sessions, according to Hiltner, which could take months or even years to complete.

The last time a contract dispute went into mediation in Millstone was approximately four years ago, Agulnick said, and the matter took one year to settle.

"The negotiations were contentious," Agulnick said. "We worked without a contract for a year."

When asked how working without a contract affected the school district, Agulnick said, "I don't know if people left because they didn't have a contract or if people left to go places with better benefits and higher salaries."

Agulnick said it is the MTEA's hope to keep the excellent staff it believes it has in Millstone.

"We are concerned about the future of this district," Agulnick said. "Millstone is a growing area. We are building a new school. Shortchanging the current or the future staff of this district will only shortchange our students.

"We are proud to teach and work in Millstone," Agulnick added. "We think our students are the best, and we think they deserve the best."