Unable to break the logjam on talks that would lead to a new contract, Hopewell Valley Regional School District Board of Education members and Hopewell Valley Education Association representatives are going to cut to the chase and will meet with a fact-finder in January.
The fact-finder, who is a neutral party appointed by the state Public Employment Relations Commission, will meet with school district and union representatives and review the records of mediation. The fact-finder will issue a report with a set of non-binding recommendations for a settlement after the Jan. 9, 2019 meeting.
The union and board representatives have been negotiating since the previous contract expired June 30. The union represents more than 400 teachers, child study team members, guidance counselors and athletic trainers. The union members have continued to work under the terms of the previous contract since its expiration.
The negotiating teams representing the union and the board met five times and then decided to call in a mediator. Still unable to come to terms, a fact-finder was called in to help.
The fact-finder was supposed to meet with the negotiating teams on Nov. 5. It was decided to skip that step and to ask the fact-finder to meet with them in January and then issue a report.
Board President Alyce Murray said the board “values our teaching staff. We hope to reach a fair and equitable settlement as soon as possible.”
Issues in the negotiations include salary and payments toward health insurance premiums, and teaching time – the number of minutes a teacher must spend in front of students.
On the issue of health insurance premiums, union members may pay as much as 35 percent toward the cost of the premium. Union members have said they are taking home less money compared to four years ago, because of the increased payment toward the health insurance premium.
John Zalot, who teachers math at Hopewell Valley Central High School, told the board at its Nov. 12 meeting he received a $1,000 longevity bonus, but it was quickly eaten up by a $1,200 increase in the health insurance premium.
“You can’t say, ‘Here is $1,000 and by the way, we are going to take out (an extra) $1,200 for insurance. To me, it’s a slap in the face,” Zalot said. He said he works as a tutor, a waiter and in construction to earn more money.
Zalot also commented on the additional time teachers must spend in the new Academic Recitation period at the high school. Teachers are assigned to help students during a non-instructional period.
Teachers should be compensated for the extra time spent in the Academic Recitation period, Zalot said.
After the meeting, school district administrators said high school teachers are required to teach 225 minutes per day – a number the administrators would like to increase.
Princeton High School teachers may teach up to 300 minutes per day. Lawrence High School and Hightstown High School teachers must teach 300 minutes and 280 minutes per day, respectively.
Hopewell Valley Regional School District teachers earned a median salary of $82,152 for the 2017-18 school year, with a student-to-teacher ratio of 10.1 students per teacher, according to the New Jersey Department of Education’s Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending 2018.
The median salary for the Princeton Public Schools was $81,583 for the 2017-18 school year. The student-to-teacher ratio is slightly more at 11.1 students per teacher, according to the Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending for 2018.
In the Lawrence Township Public Schools, the median salary was $64,386 for the 2017-18 school year. The student-to-teacher ratio is 11.7 students per teacher, according to the Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending.
In the East Windsor Regional School District, which includes Hightstown High School, the median salary was $70,480 for the 2017-18 school year. The student-to-teacher ratio is 11.9 students per teacher.
