Phillipsburg School District reaches impasse in negotiations as Lopatcong, Pohatcong reach agreements

Wednesday, December 16, 2009
By SARAH M. WOJCIK
The Express-Times

Phillipsburg teachers are working under an expired contract even as their counterparts in Lopatcong and Pohatcong townships have inked new deals.

Faculty contracts for all three school districts expired as of July. Within recent weeks, the Lopatcong and Pohatcong school districts approved contracts, but progress in the Phillipsburg area's largest school district has come to a standstill.

Phillipsburg Education Association President Barbara English said this week mediators will be assigned for the certified staff contract negotiations and the support staff contract negotiations. The support staff has worked under a contract that expired as of July 2008, English said.

English said she could not detail terms of the negotiations but said the sticking points are familiar ones.

"Money, benefits and time," she said. "It's the same thing everywhere."

English acknowledged that negotiations have not escaped a local and national economy slow to recover from recession.

"I think both sides have taken that into consideration," she said.

When Phillipsburg's contracts were last negotiated, it took about a year and two mediation sessions before a compromise was reached. That contract called for annual raises of 4.3 percent over three years and no health care contribution.

English said bringing a third party into the mix is not ideal, but she is hopeful it would help prod both sides toward middle ground. She said Lopatcong Township needed two sessions with a mediator, and Pohatcong Township needed one before their agreements were reached.

"I have great hope that a mediator can bring us together," English said.

The Pohatcong Township School Board in September approved a faculty contract carrying 4.5 percent raises for each of the contract's three years, according to School Business Administrator Tim Mantz.

An entry-level teaching position at the district at $43,473 would rise to $49,609 by 2012, according to the contract. Pay for the most highly qualified teacher on the salary guide would increase from $75,818 to $86,519 within that period.

Mantz said the district saved money by switching health care providers for teachers and instituting a cap for reimbursement to those teachers who waive coverage.

Additionally, Pohatcong teachers' work day was lengthened by several minutes, Mantz said.

Earlier this month, Lopatcong Township School District approved a faculty contract calling for 3.9 percent raises for 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years and a 4 percent salary bump for 2011-12.

Entry-level certified faculty will see annual salaries rise from about $46,550 to $50,299 between 2009 and 2012. The highest-paid faculty member in the salary guide would move from about $87,783 to $94,763 in that same period.

Lopatcong also instituted health care waiver caps, increased tuition reimbursement by $8,000 annually and capped retirement payouts at $15,000.