Union: We Don't Agree With Kinnelon BOE on Salaries, Custodial Vacation

With July on the horizon, the Kinnelon Education Association (KEA) and have not come to an agreement on new employment contracts for nearly a year.

According to Vickie Walsh, a field representative from the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) who is representing the KEA, two specific items have held up the conclusion of the process since the beginning: salaries and the weeks of vacation for custodial staff.

Walsh said custodial staff members had vacation time cut, depending on what level they were on, in years prior and the union is negotiating to restore that time. The union represents teachers, support staff, maintenance employees, secretaries and paraprofessionals.

A new date has been scheduled for the KEA to to continue the contract negotiation process on July 30, according to Walsh. The entities were scheduled to meet with the board of education's legal representative and the fact-finder on June 13,

The fact-finder will complete a written report which will likely be released in the fall, at which point both parties have 10 days to either accept or reject the report.

"They're never intended to make everybody happy, but it will be something the parties can live with," Walsh said.

In the meantime, many Kinnelon parents were concerned over at the commencement ceremony held on June 15. While several teachers attended the event, few high school teachers walked in with the students and participated

Walsh did not wish to comment on teachers' participation in the graduation, as she said she is unfamiliar with the participation of teachers in years past, but said she was happy teachers attended.

"This is a voluntary activity and I am happy they attended the event," she said.

In an interview prior to the graduation ceremony, Walsh also responded to rumors that KEA members refused to write letters of recommendation for students, something

"That has never been something that the association has supported happening," she said. "I find that very disturbing that people believe that is happening."

Walsh said the teachers have attempted to "take the high road" throughout the negotiation process, refusing to lose sight of what is most important.

"Children were serviced, as they should be, and are taken care of," she said.