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Schools

BOE Navigates Dissent at Regular Meeting

Labor contracts, budget costs and spending priorities topped complaints.

The Haddonfield Board of Education addressed a number of key local issues at its regular meeting Thursday, including ongoing district-faculty labor negotiations, public dissatisfaction with the pace of these negotiations, and budgetary priorities.

Nearly 30 people were in attendance, including several local teachers, who wore red shirts as a show of solidarity. The teachers have been working without a new contract for the past 18 months.

Patrick Walsh of Euclid Avenue stood up in the public comment session and distributed a list of questions to the board from a group of borough residents calling itself the Haddonfield Partnership for Academic Success.

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Walsh, who has previously challenged the board and its allocation of resources, criticized the district’s authorization of administrative pay increases during the labor negotiations.

“You have overspent on athletics, you have overspent on administration and you have underspent, in our estimation, on professional development,” Walsh said. He described Haddonfield faculty as “people who have [had] to make choices about diapers and groceries and all the other things that people have to make choices about,” while they worked without a contract during the past 18 months.

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Board vice-president Glen Moramarco criticized Walsh for “cherry-picking data,” and board member Joe Erhardt said he believed it was inappropriate to debate contract negotiation issues publicly.

Board president Steve Weinstein weathered Walsh’s comments, saying he believes both sides in the labor dispute are working in good faith.

“We will get to a collective bargaining agreement,” Weinstein said. “We will get past this point.”

Addressing Walsh directly, Weinstein said, “You’re very entitled to stand up and give your opinion, but you’re not in the room. We will get through it, and when we do, some people will like it, and there will be other taxpayers who will tell us that we’re nuts to whatever we agreed to.”

Jackie Carroll, eighth-grade teacher and co-president of the Haddonfield Education Association, said that both the BOE and faculty representatives will meet Dec. 1 to negotiate.

“Everybody’s hopeful that we can come up with an agreement,” she said. “We’re going to try.”

On the subject of how public comment from citizens like Walsh affects the dispute, Carroll said, “We’re glad he’s asking the questions. The more accurate information that is out there, then people are better informed, and it helps not only in negotiations but in budgeting. I think it’s healthy.”

Walsh also asked the board to account for the amount of funding allocated by the district for its staff and professional development efforts, comparing the approximately $14,000 line item in the Haddonfield budget with figures published by Moorestown and Haddon Township.

Superintendent Richard Perry responded that the Haddonfield district has been recognized by Camden County as having “the best professional development program in the region,” and that published budget figures could indicate its efficiency rather than a lack of financial dedication to the issue.

“Since I’ve been here, professional development has been a top priority, so I think that whatever thoughts you cite here, that’s not indicative with what’s going on,” Perry said.

A handful of teachers in attendance spoke up to say that although the district is recognized for its exceptional professional development achievements, budgets no longer subsidize the costs of attending conferences. Moreover, they said, much of the in-service education is delivered by school faculty, providing another cost savings to the district.

Polly Murray, a elementary music teacher and Haddonfield resident, said that she hasn’t received money for professional development in two years.

“There have been changes in how professional development is paid for and not one of them has been for music,” she said.

John Duffy, an high school foreign language teacher and Haddonfield resident, seconded Murray’s remarks, saying that his attendance of the American Conference of Teachers of Foreign Languages “was always paid for by the district.”

“Maybe part of the savings you’re getting right here is because there’s no longer a payment for that type of professional development,” Duffy said.

Volunteer basketball referee David Raymond of Woodland Avenue said Haddonfield students’ ability to attend Ivy League schools is a function of its athletic excellence. He promised “a groundswell of opposition” if the board made any “attempt to remove or diminish, or take away any bit of athletics in this town.”

Walsh shot back that the budget figures seemed to reflect that the board shared Raymond’s perspective.

Erhardt replied that the school district is “very aware of our comparative costs” of its athletic efforts, and that “really true structural reasons” for them, including its no-cut participation policy and winning its way into state and regional playoff games, that increase those costs.

The board unveiled a $32 million plan earlier this month to expand athletic fields and build a new library and learning center by partnering with the borough, state and other groups to buy the adjacent 19.7-acre Bancroft property. Borough commissioners are expected to make a decision on the public purchase plan, and other development options, before the end of the year.

Weinstein defferred questions on Bancroft to a special meeting this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the library.

“The role of the board in the Bancroft contract is to put forth a vision; we will continue that conversation next week,” he said.

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