Freehold Twp. board, union settle contract
500 FTEA members will receive an average annual increase of 4.75%
BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer

Teachers in the Freehold Township K-8 school district will receive an average raise of 4.75 percent this year and in each of the next two years under the terms of a contract that was recently negotiated with the Board of Education.

Not every member of the Freehold Township Education Association (FTEA) will receive a salary increase of 4.75 percent each year. Some union members will receive a higher percentage increase and some union members will receive a lower percentage increase. The amount of the increase is a reflection of the employee’s years of service in the district and their place on the district’s salary guide.

According to the school district, the three-year deal with the FTEA will run from July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2007. The board approved the contract on Nov. 9, following the FTEA’s ratification of the pact on Oct. 29.

The FTEA has a membership of about 500, which includes teachers, custodians, support staff and teachers’ assistants, according to Nick Napoleon, president of the union.

The base salary for beginning teachers in the district during the 2004-05 school year is $39,375. According to district administrators, there was a change in health insurance coverage regarding an increase in co-payments for employees from $10 to $20 per visit to a doctor’s office.

Superintendent of Schools Catherine Snyder said, “Negotiations were conducted in a mutually respectful manner and both parties worked hard to reach a settlement. The agreement was considered fair and equitable.”

According to a press release from the school district, the contract negotiation process was nearly complete at the end of the 2003-04 school year. Due to time constraints, voting on the contract was postponed until the beginning of the 2004-05 school year. District administrators said the majority of the FTEA contract was unchanged from the previous three-year agreement.

Napoleon, who teaches social studies at the Barkalow Middle School, said more than 80 percent of the FTEA members voted to ratify the agreement.

“There were no problems during the negotiations,” he said. “We’ve had an excellent working relationship [with the board] even though we are each advocates for our side. It was very amicable.”

Another school district that recently saw its board members and teachers association agree on a contract is Howell’s K-8 district.

According to Jorden Schiff, assistant superintendent of curriculum and personnel, the new contract will cover the 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years.

In 2005-06, union members will receive an average 3.25 percent raise; in 2006-07, they will receive an average 3.75 percent raise; and in 2007-08, union members will receive an average 4.25 percent raise, he said.

The starting salary for a teacher in Howell during the 2005-06 school year will be $39,025, Schiff said.

Schiff noted that Howell teachers are working in the final year of a deal that covered the 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years. He said that concluding negotiations promptly on the next agreement means that teachers will not be in a position of working under the terms of an expired contract.