In an effort to cut costs, the school board voted on Jan. 23 to offer an incentive program to encourage older, higher paid teachers to retire early. This would allow the schools to hire lower-salaried teachers. The announcement came after an extensive closed session and very little public discussion, but it is part of several sidebar agreements to salary negotiations currently underway between the teachers' union and the negotiating committee for the board.
The sidebar agreements, which are agreements made outside the actual salary negotiated contracts, provide for increased compensation to employees who elect to resign and have 25 years or more of service.
Under this three-year incentive program, staff members with 25 years of service this year have until March 21 to decide if they want to retire early. Staff that have 25 years next year have until March 31, 2004 to decide, and staff with 25 years the following year have until March 31, 2005.
While school officials did not know the number of staff eligible for the buyout, they did present historical data from the last buyout program held during the late 1990s.
"Our records showed that during the first year the last time we offered this, seven teachers and two clerical workers took advantage of the offer," said Ed Walkiewicz, Board of Education secretary and business administrator. "Four teachers and one clerical worker took advantage of it the second year, and two teachers and three clerical workers, the third year."
Walkiewicz said the board knows of some people interested in the buyout, but does not have firm figures on all that might take advantage.
"We felt that we would put it out there and let people take it if they want to," he said.
The agreement, however, was not unanimous. The vote was 5 to 2 with two members absent. Board Members Tom Troyer and Elenore Reinl opposed the agreement, saying they were not comfortable with details.
"I'm against it because we're going to encourage some of our best teachers to leave without knowing if the people we replace them with will be as good," Troyer said.
School officials said this plan models packages offered by private industry to control operating costs since those employees seeking to resign are often at the top of the pay scale.
The school district business office presented the board with cost savings models that allowed the board to calculate the most savings. If teachers follow historic patterns for accepting such packages, the district could save as much as $2.2 million over the next five years.
School Superintendent Constantino Scerbo said controlling salary and benefit expenses will be a crucial component in providing the additional funds necessary to maintain and improve educational elements in the schools while keeping down the tax impact on local residents.
Other business
In an effort to match its policies to its practices, the board moved to update the policy manual for the rental of school space to for-profit and non-profit organizations.
Generally these policies are reviewed every decade to bring them up to current practice. The manual, for instance, prohibits use of some facilities by the public, yet the school district has routinely allowed the public to use these facilities.
Board President Ed Rittberg said with the expansion of the Middle School/High School complex and the construction of the new auditorium, the policy needs to be changed.
The biggest proposed change would be to allow for-profit groups as well as non-profit groups access to classrooms, the auditorium, and the cafeteria - for a cost.
"In the past, profit making groups were excluded," Walkiewicz said..
While the school district is not seeking to make a profit from the policy change, it does, however, wish to cover the costs of opening the schools. Lights, custodial services, setting up of chairs, and other operations cost the school district money each time they are performed, and the previous fees charged did not cover these costs.
Rittberg said the previous charge of a $25 flat fee was not nearly enough. Board member Michael Schlemm made specific proposals for increasing the costs, but the board was not required to vote on the matter at the Jan. 23 meeting.
"The fee is separate from the policy," Walkiewicz said. "We just need to agree that we want to change the policy. How much we will charge can be adjusted later."
These fees, of course, would not be charged for school-related groups such as the PTA or other such co-curricular activity support groups.
The board also approved the sale of a sliver of wetlands behind the high school to the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission as part of a wetlands restoration project.
This is 7.41 acres of land that was originally sold in March 1999 at $10,200 per acre, said Rittberg. The property was supposed to be transferred to the NJMC as part of a larger restoration of nearby wetlands, but because of some legal issues involving documentation, this portion of the sale was delayed. The $71,135 is ear marked for work on the parking lot.
In a brief ceremony, the board also acknowledged the winners of this year's Freedom Essay Contest, the Veteran's Day Poster Award, the Patriot's Pen Essay Contest, and the 2003 National Geographic Bee School level winner.