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PEQUANNOCK - Teachers’ job action upsets school district
(by April Plantamura - Staff Writer - March 30, 2008)
PEQUANNOCK - The fact that the teachers’ contracts have yet to be settled has caused much unrest among teachers, parents and administrators in the school district. However, the teachers’ most recent job action to no longer provide students with extra help before or after school seems to be most negatively impacting the youths of the district.
In an apparent attempt to show the district that they will not work outside contract parameters, teachers have refused to offer students any extra help. This includes any additional time spent before or after school explaining information that a student might not have grasped during class or the writing of student recommendation letters for college applications.
Gerard Bilfuco, a student representative to the school board, recently pleaded with the teachers not to make the students suffer for the Pequannock Township Educational Association (PTEA) and the school board’s inability to agree on a current contract.
Several concerned parents spoke at the Monday, March 17 meeting of the school board, insisting that this job action by the PTEA is unfair to students and that students should be left out of adult negotiations.
“Once the contracts are settled, the teachers will be paid retroactively,” parent Sharon DiRussa said. “But the students can’t get back the time and help that they lost.”
At the board’s Tuesday, March 25 meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Larrie Reynolds proposed an idea that he hopes will provide students with the help they need, without impeding on teachers’ contract negotiations. His idea is to incorporate question-and-answer periods for students into what are considered duty-periods for teachers.
Fifty percent of the teachers in the district are allowed to teach six academic classes, with the remaining 50 percent teaching only five, but incorporating a duty-period into their day. These duty-periods include lunchroom or hallway duty or monitoring the in-school suspension (ISS) room. Dr. Reynolds would like to see teachers made available during their duty-periods to simply answer any student questions.
“We would like to have teachers that are knowledgeable in certain subjects available during a students’ lunch or other free periods,” Dr. Reynolds said. “But this does not come without controversy.”
Dr. Reynolds said that the PTEA’s new president, LeeAnn Brensinger, expressed concern that this plan constitutes the creation of an additional instructional period in a teacher’s day and rejected the idea.
The superintendent said that he has spoken to the board attorney and “combed through the law,” which caused him to conclude that this plan is fully sound and not in conflict with the teachers’ contracts in any way.
“This does not qualify as a class,” he said. “There is no preparation, no class list or attendance, no grades and no direct instruction.”
Dr. Reynolds compared his plan of having teachers available to answer questions during a specified period to students asking teachers questions when passing them in the hallway or when completing school work in ISS.
Brensinger argued that students don’t normally ask teachers in the ISS room for help with their work unless students have that teacher for a certain subject. Brensinger also disagreed with Dr. Reynolds’ explanation of what constitutes an instructional period saying, “We have to agree to disagree on what an instructional period is.”
Dr. Reynolds said that if he received board support, he would like to implement the program as early as the following school day. High School Principal Frank Ingargiola surveyed students and found most willing to take full advantage of extra help if it was available.
The proposed plan includes having students sign up for the extra help at the beginning of the day, indicating what subject they have questions in and what class period they have free to receive the help.
“It (the additional help periods) wouldn’t necessarily be an everyday occurrence,” Dr. Reynolds said. “They would be provided as needed.”
The superintendent also said that by bringing the idea before the board members, he is informing them that there is a chance that PTEA members might file a grievance but that he is legally prepared to face it.
“We have taken the PTEA’s concerns very seriously,” Dr. Reynolds said. “But we don’t think they are accurate and we are prepared to defend it.”
Members of the school board showed overwhelming support for providing students with the extra help.
“We asked members of the PTEA to eliminate not offering extra help from their job actions, but clearly they have chosen not to do that,” Board President Megan Hollberg said. “We need to help our students. This isn’t the best plan but it’s workable.”
Margo Garberly expressed her gratitude to the board at the meeting for finding a way to help the students.
“I want to thank anyone who had anything to do with formulating extra help for the students,” she said. “I hope that the wonderful teachers that I know we have in this district can make this work.”
The proposed idea for extra help received unanimous support from board members and will be implemented mainly in the high school, since that seems to be where the need is greatest. Board members hope that this offers the students the help they need, without creating even more tension with the PTEA.
“We want what is in the best interest of the kids,” Hollberg said. “We hope this plan works with what the PTEA feels they need to do and that we don’t have to make any more of this.”
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