Attention Mount Ephraim Residents |cnbnews.net
Thursday, June 28, 2012
published in the Gloucester City News June 21 issue
Dear Mt. Ephraim Parents And Residents:
As members of the Board of Education (BOE) and residents of Mount Ephraim, we feel that it is our responsibility to be sure children in Mt. Ephraim receive an outstanding education, to be prudent with your tax dollars, and to act fairly regarding staff contracts. We all gladly volunteer our time which includes not only meetings but training required by the State of NJ.
The contract for the teachers of the Mt. Ephraim Education Association (MEEA) expired June 30, 2011. The BOE and the MEEA met on several occasions to discuss non-salary provisions of a new contract.
The MEEA requested mediation to which the BOE agreed. During the final mediation meeting, salary increases were discussed. The MEEA made a proposal and the BOE countered. At that point the MEEA requested to go to the next step in the process which is “fact finding.”
The BOE does not control or have any influence on the timing of fact finding.
This process was requested by the MEEA and BOE has been waiting for notification of a meeting with the fact finder which is scheduled for June 19.
The MEEA have had no salary reductions. The staff has continued to be paid under the provisions of last year’s contract. The previous contract was for 4 years (2007–2011) and included a 4.9 percent increase each year which translated to a minimum of 12.91 percent salary increase to a maximum of 42.83 percent salary increase per teacher over the four years. Also, during this time, the BOE was faced with a drastic reduction in state aid prompting all administrators to take a 0 percent increase and non-represented staff to take a 0 percent increase for one year to assist the district financially.
We very much want to work with the MEEA to finalize a new contract. We are hopeful that the fact finding meeting will lead us to common ground and a new contract will be in place by the start of the new school year. Please know that we are always open to hearing from you. Our meetings are typically held on the 2nd Monday of each month at 7:30PM at the RWK Media Center.
Sincerely, Mount Ephraim Board of Education
