By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
UPPER TOWNSHIP – The Upper Township Board of Education has essentially agreed to hold off on reaching an agreement with its school administrators, voting on Monday, May 18, to extend the existing contract for an additional year.
Board president Michele Barbieri cited the restrictions in place due to COVID-19, which have kept board officials and those representing the administrator’s collective bargaining unit from working out details of a new contract.
“We did not think it was professional nor was it to anyone’s advantage to try to hold negotiations remotely,” Barbieri said at the meeting, which was also held remotely, with none of the board members at the school.
The school board proposed extending the existing contract for the 2020-21 school year, with no change in benefits or conditions of employment. The administrators will receive a 2.75 percent salary increase, which she said is less than what is included in the existing collective bargaining agreement. She said the district and the staff had “a nice dialogue” on the proposal.
“Once we’re able to get back in the room and negotiate face-to-face, which is the most professional way to do it, we will begin for a successive agreement,” Barbieri said.
She said the talks on a new contract began in September, but the two sides were just getting into the meat of the negotiations when they were called off because of the coronavirus-related emergency measures.
The board unanimously approved the agreement by resolution. At the same meeting, the board approved a similar agreement with the school’s standalone contracts, those that are not covered by the negotiations with unions or collective bargaining units. That includes school nurses, IT staff, the transportation supervisor and others. They, too, will see a 2.75 percent increase next year.
A listing of salaries included as part of the meeting agenda packet puts the salary ranges between $41,202 for a bookkeeper and $94,089 for the supervisor of buildings and grounds.
According to Barbieri, the 2.75 percent is already in the school’s budget, and is not in addition to the raises negotiated under previous contracts.
Cafeteria workers and playground aides will also see an increase, under a separate resolution approved on Monday. The hourly rate will increase from $13.85 to $14.23 under the unanimous resolution.
“We have been working throughout the years to slowly increase the hourly rate for our aides,” Barbieri said. The aides work three hours a day, five days a week when school is in session.
During her comments at the beginning of the meeting, Barbieri expressed concern about bills in the New Jersey Senate and Assembly that would allow the state to permit towns to delay or reduce the payment of property taxes to school districts during emergencies, such as the one Gov. Phil Murphy has declared over COVID-19.
As proposed, the decision on changes or delays to payments to school districts would rest with the state Department of Community Affairs.
The New Jersey School Boards Association opposes the action.
“It will have an impact on all of our school districts, especially in Upper,” Barbieri said.
Under New Jersey law, municipalities collect property taxes and are then responsible to disperse the money to the school districts and the county. Some municipal leaders in Cape May County have expressed concern that the towns will be responsible for paying the other entities whether or not the taxes are available.
The statewide school board association argues that delaying or altering the funding of schools could seriously disrupt education.
U.T. superintendent doing online UTBA round table May 22
Vincent Palmieri, Upper Township School District superintendent, will take part in the Upper Township Business Association online Round Table meeting at 11 a.m. Friday, May 22.
Superintendent Palmieri will be meeting with the UTBA Board and members with information about the status of community schools this spring, future plans related to Covid-19, and a range of other education topics related to teachers and students in Upper Township. Palmieri will talk about how the business community can have a supportive role with our schools.
RSVPs are requested with this link – https://bit.ly/UTBAMay22RoundTable.
Palmieri will answer questions submitted online prior to the meeting by business attendees using the RSVP link.
UTBA members and prospective members are welcome to attend.
the UT Business Association weekly Round Table meetings.
RSVPs can be registered and questions posted here > https://bit.ly/UTBAMay22RoundTable
This link will also be posted on the UTBA Facebook page and website. The Zoom link will be emailed to registered attendees.
