PARSIPPANY — The Board of Education released the following information regarding the negotiations with the Parsippany-Troy Hills Education Association:
The Board of Education (Board) values our teachers and wants to negotiate a fair and equitable contract with them; a contract that addresses the demands of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Education Association (PTHEA), meets the needs of our students, and that our community can afford today and years down the road. The Board would like to provide our community with a more complete understanding of the key current issues which the Board believes are limiting its ability to reach a fair and equitable contract settlement:
- Reductions in the amount PTHEA members contribute to offset District health insurance costs. PTHEA is demanding a significant reduction in the State-mandated amount they contribute to help cover the cost of health insurance. Currently, teachers are provided with Health, Dental, and Prescription Insurance which costs the District $14,598,626.00 per year. The District projects another 9% increase in this premium number for next year. The cost for a teacher’s family coverage currently ranges from $30,280.32 to $31,813.92 per year. While the amount of a teacher’s contribution varies by salary, an average teacher contributes $5,300 to this premium.
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Salary Increases – PTHEA has rejected the Board’s proposed salary increases that are very close to the average salary increases for Morris County school districts.
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Job Actions – Despite the fact that for the past five months our teachers have continued by law to receive all the protections of their previous contract, including full health insurance benefits, the PTHEA has initiated job actions that directly impact our students.
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Property Tax Cap – The State mandated limit of 2% on any property tax increase makes it challenging for the District to maintain current class sizes and instructional and co-curricular programs, let alone attempting to even partially meet the demands of the PTHEA.
We are – and always have been – ready and willing to return to the negotiations table to negotiate a fair and equitable contract. To demonstrate our good faith and to restart the negotiations process, the Board recently hired a new attorney/negotiator to work with both parties to bring current negotiations to a successful conclusion.
Despite PTHEA’s decision to declare an impasse after only a few meetings and implement job actions, the Board met with the PTHEA negotiations team on January 20, 2016 and had a very cordial session where the Board listened intently to the PTHEA’s concerns. Again, in an effort to settle the contract, the Board met with the State mediator on January 26, 2016 and negotiated with the PTHEA until 2:00 AM. Although significant differences remain in the parties’ positions, the Board and the PTHEA both agreed that they would attempt to start brainstorming solutions to address both the PTHEA’s concerns and the Board’s issues that have been on the table since the beginning of negotiations.
Despite the proactive steps the Board has taken to advance negotiations, PTHEA recently decided to prevent its members from volunteering for field trips that extend beyond the school day, participating in student events like “The PHHS Gong Show” and to voluntarily serve as advisors for student clubs. The Board is very disappointed in this most recent job action and understands how unsettling the PTHEA job actions can be for our students, their parents, and our schools. We project that the job action to prohibit teachers from voluntarily advising clubs alone will affect over 500 students. The Board has always taken a strong stand against involving students in labor issues. When one considers that the prior contract only ended on June 30, 2015, and that a major impediment to a contract settlement is the result of legislative action by the State of New Jersey requiring teachers to contribute to the cost of their health insurance, it is unfortunate that PTHEA has imposed these job actions on our students and community. Despite these job actions, the Board looks forward to continuing negotiations with PTHEA and working with the State assigned mediator to resolve the few remaining BOE issues and the unresolved PTHEA demands for salary and benefits. The Board does value our teachers and wants to negotiate a fair and equitable contract to support our high quality teachers. However, the Board must also be cognizant of its responsibility to ensure that a final contract is fiscally responsible and sustainable for our community.
