Sunday, February 10, 2013
Salary increases of up to 2.2 percent included in agreement, union president says.
The Kinnelon Education Association (KEA) and Kinnelon Board of Education have finally reached an agreement on a new contract after more than a year of negotiations. The new contract was ratified last week after KEA President Tom Shannon said the union felt the report prepared by a state-appointed fact-finder "reflects a fair compromise." The fact-finder was needed after the parties could not agree on terms of the contract. Included in the contract are salary increases of 1.2 percent for the first year, 2 percent in the second year and 2.2 percent in the third year for 2011-2014. New salary guides still need to be ratified at a later date, Shannon said, a process that could take several months. Kinnelon Board of Education members were …
Sunday, February 3, 2013
After more than a year of negotiating, KEA and Kinnelon Board of Education may have reached an agreement.
Members of the Kinnelon Education Association are expected to ratify a new contract with the Kinnelon Board of Education on Monday, according to a a union representative. Vickie Walsh, a representative of the New Jersey Education Association who has been assisting the KEA in the negotiations process, said a vote of the union's membership is expected to be tallied on Monday. Meanwhile, the Kinnelon Board of Education began celebrating the settlement with comments about members' appreciation of both parties during Thursday's board meeting. "This truly did take a village to get to this point," Board Member Marianne DeAlessi said. The new contract will be the result of more than a year-and-a-half of negotiating, including both parties entering…
Monday, January 14, 2013
Superintendent 'hopeful' negotiation process is near conclusion.
After a year-and-a-half of negotiating, the Kinnelon Education Association (KEA) and Kinnelon Board of Education may agree on a new contract in the near future. The KEA, which includes teachers, secretaries and other district employees, has been working with an expired contract since July 2011. In September, after months of disagreement between the board and KEA on a new contract, negotiations entered a fact-finding phase. Vickie Walsh, a field representative for the New Jersey Education Association who is assisting with the negotiations on the KEA end, said the report has been completed and was reviewed by the union's negotiating team on Thursday. "The team will be recommending that the general membership ratify this agreement," Walsh …
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Teachers' negotiations in fact-finding stage as board member urges teachers to be more flexible.
Months after Kinnelon teachers began only offering extra help after school on the same day, the board of education's new student representative said Thursday students are feeling negatively impacted by the situation. Anthe Stylianou, a junior at Kinnelon High School, spoke about the challenges the same-day extra help has presented to students. She said if students needed assistance in more than one curriculum area, they were forced to choose which one to seek extra help in for that week. "It was hard for [students] to attend both teachers' classes in a matter of an hour," she said. Stylianou suggested the teachers consider breaking the same-day extra help up by subject, offering, for example, language arts extra help on one day and …
Friday, October 26, 2012
Board president says entities are still unable to reach agreement.
As the negotiating process for a new Kinnelon Education Association (KEA) contract continues, one resident urged the Kinnelon Board of Education (BOE) to settle with the teachers Thursday night. "I see the lack of respect and the fact that, as a board, you are not valuing your education association because you're not settling their contract," Monarch Way resident Kathy Klein said. Klein said she has watched her son go through the Kinnelon school system and has always been proud of the district. She said she has been fond of the way the district seemed to value educational decisions, that will positively impact the students, over decisions that will please the taxpayers. But now, Klein said she is disappointed that the board has not agreed …
Friday, September 28, 2012
KEA president says some services that could be provided under new contract could be curtailed as teachers continue to work under expired contract.
- OPINION
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Friday, September 28, 2012
The following was submitted by Kinnelon Education President Tom Shannon. If you have a Letter to the Editor you would like to submit, send it to ariana.cohn-sheehan@patch.com Dear Editor: The Kinnelon Education Association (KEA) is extremely proud of its long history of contributions to the comprehensive successes within the Kinnelon school district. In congratulating the community, students, administration and board, the KEA shares its pride in the district’s recent achievement in being ranked No. 5 in the state. The KEA is also proud of its long history of fair collective bargaining with the Kinnelon Board of Education. In the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, the KEA presented the board with a seven-point proposal seeking basic, …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
NJEA representative said no organized effort is in place for teachers to only offer extra help on Thursdays.
Kinnelon teachers grades 6 through 12 who are only offering extra help after school on Thursdays are not part of an organized effort, according to New Jersey Education Association Field Representative Vickie Walsh, who is representing the Kinnelon Education Association (KEA) in contract negotiations. "The members of the Kinnelon Education Association take pride in educating the students in Kinnelon. To be clear, there is no organized effort to 'work to the contract,'" Walsh said Friday. At Thursday night's Kinnelon Board of Education meeting, several board members expressed their disappointment that the teachers have been offering extra help on the same, single day. According to Interim Superintendent of Schools Diane DiGiuseppe, the …
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Superintendent said teachers are 'exercising the language of their contract' in only offering extra help on Thursdays.
Several Kinnelon Board of Education members expressed their disappointment Thursday night in Kinnelon teachers grades 6 through 12 who have decided to offer after-school extra help just one day a week and on the same day. Board Member Katie Stylianou said she had heard "buzz" in the community that teachers were only staying late to offer extra help on Thursdays. Interim Superintendent of Schools Diane DiGiuseppe confirmed Stylianou's concerns and said the teachers were "exercising the language in their contracts." Stylianou said the actions of the teachers were "very sad" and "now they're going to hurt the same children that they're professing to help." She said she was concerned about the students. "We're worried about getting them this …
Monday, July 30, 2012
Union representatives, board of education meet with fact-finder Monday.
The ongoing negotiations between the Kinnelon Education Association (KEA) and Kinnelon Public Schools Board of Education regarding a new contract for KEA members could go into the upcoming school year, a union representative said. "We do not expect a report before late October based on the process," Vickie Walsh, a field representative of the New Jersey Education Association, said on behalf of the KEA. While Walsh said no additional meetings have been scheduled, after the fact-finder completes their report in the fall, each party will review it and have 10 days to either accept or reject it. Both parties met with the state-appointed fact-finder for a formal hearing Monday that lasted more than six hours. "The parties presented information …
Friday, June 22, 2012
New meeting scheduled for fact-finder, union and board representatives.
With July on the horizon, the Kinnelon Education Association (KEA) and Kinnelon Public Schools Board of Education 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 …
Sven Karmans
9:44 am on Monday, February 11, 2013
Given the huge increases in food, energy and health care costs, Kinnelon's teachers are in reality taking a considerable pay cut. Kinnelon should consider itself lucky to have competent, caring, and dedicated staff. Investing in our children is money well spent, and Kinnelon is getting a bargain at any price. more ›