Parents, residents and teachers came out to the Sept. 11 Haddonfield Board of Education meeting to have a voice in regard to the teachers’ contracts, asking for a decision to be made soon.
Betty Anne Young, a mother of two children in the school system, started the talks.
“I’m here to talk about the teachers. The individuals who spend six hours a day with the two most important people in my life, my kids,” Young said.
Young credited her children’s academic achievements and advancements to the teachers.
Her daughter, having been classified as having sensory issues and lack of speech and language development at the age of 3, was declassified before she started kindergarten. Her son was classified in the autism spectrum, having Asperger’s.
“His world opened up because of his teachers. They taught him life skills, social skills, all those things that many of us take for granted,” Young said. “They helped Timmy see the world to be less scary to a boy who just didn’t understand or know how to navigate it.”
Young also commended the Diamond Team, who helped her son during a time he couldn’t attend school because of his anxiety. She also acknowledged his counselor who helped him during a difficult time of loss with their family.
“To the world, you may be one, but to one you are the world,” Young quoted to all the teachers.
After her story, Young finished with a plea to the board, asking to settle the contract with the teachers quickly and give them what they deserve.
Anthony Errichetto brought up how Haddonfield Memorial High School was recently ranked the second public high school in the state by New Jersey Monthly and how its salaries are less than some of the surrounding districts.
“All of the top 10 districts have started the school year with contracts for their teachers, with the exception of Haddonfield,” Errichetto said.
Errichetto made sure to mention that he did not have any children in the school district, but that he is a Haddonfield taxpayer. He supported the teachers, saying without them, classes are compromised. He finished by urging the board to resolve the contract.
Board President Glenn Moramarco said the board is unhappy it couldn’t reach an agreement. They want to, too, but not reaching a settlement isn’t outside the norm.
“In fact, two-thirds of the districts in New Jersey that had contracts that expired in June of last year are starting the school year without new contracts and are continuing to work under the old one,” Moramarco said. “So that puts us in the majority, and we are not happy with that situation. We are happy to continue to meet with the HEA negotiating committee as frequently as they want. This is something we take very seriously and want to reach an agreement as well.”
Matthew Maguire, a resident and father as well as teacher, said he loves being a teacher, but the reality is he has to work side jobs as well. He is a bartender on Fridays, a tutor and a construction worker during the summer.
“You keep saying it’s not out of the ordinary to be out of a contract, but we keep saying, well, we’re not ordinary. We’re second in the state. We keep hearing from parents, the board, from everyone how great we are. But it is hard surviving like this. There is no reason we can’t settle. We need to settle now,” Maguire said.
Other parents and teachers spoke before co-president of the Haddonfield Education Association Corrine Welsh made her case to the board.
“We’re asking for a reasonable settlement. We’re asking for things in line with local averages. I would love to ask for more than average. Frankly, this is an above average staff,” Welsh said. “Thank you for your time; we appreciate it. We hope we see the appreciation at the table as well as here tonight.”
The board and teachers are waiting for a state mediator to pick a date and time of when they will be meeting next.
In other news:
• Teresa Hildebrandt was named the 2014 School Psychologist of the Year by the New Jersey Association of School Psychologists.
• Haddonfield won the Shoprite cup from the NJSIAA for the 11th year in a row. The cup is given out every year for the best athletic programs per group. Haddonfield has won it since its inception 11 years ago.
