TEA has been working without a contract since June 2016
Before the beginning of Tuesday’s Tabernacle Board of Education meeting, the Tabernacle Education Association protested outside Kenneth R. Olson Middle School. The union, which has been working without a contract since June 30, held signs outside the school stating “Still Working, No Contract” and “Seeking a Fair Contract.”
The school district and the TEA are in mediation, with both sides wanting a resolution. In a statement read by TEA Co-President Kate Cutts to the board, the association stated “there is inaccurate information in the community regarding why a settlement has not been reached. I am speaking today about the rumor that has returned to us that ‘The TEA is just asking for too much.’ The TEA is negotiating for a fair and equitable settlement in the interest of our members, the school district and the community. The offers we have received from the board have not compared to the settlements made in our area and the country average, which are fair rates.
“Until a settlement is reached, we are working to the rule of the contract in order to demonstrate how our association goes above and beyond the requirements of an average education system. It’s not that we don’t want to continue all of the extra and special activities that we love to engage in. We hope to show that we go well beyond our expected duties in order to reach a fair and equitable contract.”
Superintendent Glenn Robbins is also looking for an agreement to happen soon.
“We are in mediation and we have another mediation coming up in the next two weeks,” Robbins said. “My hopeful goal is that we come to some sort of a resolution that works for both sides.”
In other news:
The board recognized several awards garnered by members of the school district. The seventh-grade students of Kenneth R. Olson Middle School were honored for finishing second in the Future City Competition. The students were asked to plan a city 100 years into the future. The students won $1,000 grant to use for a field trip.
Denise Madden, Kristin McNair, Marc Miller and Louis Santoro were all recognized for being the Governor’s Educator of the Year winners. Donna O’Malley was honored for winning the New Jersey Education Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Finally, the Tabernacle Elementary School grant team of Jane Francis, Caryn Smith, Gail Corey and Gerald Paterson was honored for winning a $10,000 grant from the Sustainable Jersey Project. Some of the money from this grant will be used to put water refilling stations throughout the elementary school as well as water barrels to water the school garden.
