At the Board of Education meeting on Oct. 16, an important topic of the meeting was once again the teachers’ contract renewal. Another important topic that was discussed was the possibility of a referendum vote Jan. 27 or March 10 to get Regular Operating District grants from the state to help with school improvements.
Teachers and citizens spoke at the BOE meeting encouraging a resolution to the contracts. At a Sept. 23 meeting, the board passed a resolution to move the teachers’ and staff health-care plans from the state system to Horizon. The move was in anticipation of large increases in the state policy. The members currently have Horizon in the state plan and will see savings with identical coverage in this move, officials said. At the meeting, the Haddonfield Education Association endorsed the move as long as its due diligence did not uncover a negative impact for the teachers and members.
There will be a Nov. 11 meeting between the HEA and BOE with a state mediator. Many are hoping the contracts will be settled then.
“There is no reason we should not be able to settle this contract on Nov. 11, our scheduled date with the state mediator. As you discussed in our last meeting, HEA members are switching insurance carriers on Dec. 1. As a result, the district is saving over $100,000 this year alone. Next year, when the new plan will be in place for a full year instead of a partial one, the savings will be greater,” Corinne Welsh, co-president of the HEA, said. “If you truly do respect the people who stand here in front of you, come to the table on Nov. 11 with a proposal that uses these tremendous savings to end negotiations. There is no reason not to. Our message tonight is simply this: end this frustrating situation so that we can all focus on what we do best: taking care of and educating your children.”
Also at the meeting, the board discussed taking advantage of New Jersey’s ROD grants to help with improvements to the school. Improvements would include roof replacement, boiler replacements or updates, and HVAC improvements or updates.
Two dates that the referendum would need to be voted on would be Jan. 27 and March 10. The Jan. 27 date was suggested and mostly agreed upon as the date the board would like to have a public vote for the referendum. This is due to having more time to get everything together so that the work it wishes to do can be done over the summer. The March 10 date, it felt, would not allow it to finish most of the projects over the summer.
The board has not officially decided a date for a referendum vote. It also is not sure if it will have one question or multiple questions on different levels of projects it would like to accomplish. A proposed date for a meeting to discuss the project and further action is possibly Nov. 20. Residents will be informed about the referendum after the meeting, though a small committee of residents maybe formed before then to discuss their thoughts.
In other news:
• High school student John Collins gave a presentation on “Project Inclusion.” This presentation was for a proposal to raise money to sponsor tuition for an out-of-district student in financial need. The school already has a program. However, Collins recommended a student-, school- and business-run board. In his presentation he suggested specific guidelines for choosing a student. Collins feels the school will benefit by adding diversity into the school.
• Lefty Banos and Rachel Gould spoke on and asked to revisit the school’s policies to address concussions. They talked about last year’s head injuries compared to this year’s so far.
Thirty-one head injuries with 26 being concussions were reported last year, and this year there have been six head injuries with four being concussions. Students with a concussion are not allowed to participate in any sports until cleared by their doctor and even then the student must go through a six-day return to play procedure through the school before returning. At away and home football games a Cooper doctor is present, and if they are not there for other instances one is available for communication.
• The middle school is interested in getting the STOPit app, an app to report cyberbullying anonymously, for their school.
• Due to the recent theft at the high school on Oct. 8 in the middle of the night when three TVs and two projectors were stolen, the board is looking into making security adjustments that will address the break-ins and discourage future thefts, but will also not be a huge cost.
