PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM BRICK TOWNSHIP BOARD OF EDUCATION

PRESIDENT STEPHANIE WOHLRAB

We have received many questions regarding the Brick Teacher’s Education Association
(BTEA) contract status. The Brick Board of Education has been negotiating with the BTEA for
months to agree on terms and conditions of a successor contract. Notwithstanding the Board’s
good faith and intention to settle upon a fair and financially feasible agreement, the parties still
have some distance between them. The Board continues to recognize and respect all our
employees and values their contribution towards providing a high-quality, free public education
to the students in our school district. Additionally, the Board of Education has the fiduciary
responsibility to manage our budget including your scarce tax dollars responsibly and with all
stakeholders’ best interest. Unfortunately, a recent newspaper article presents comments from
BTEA leadership which are disheartening and possibly taken out of context. While the article
cites “school district officials refused to offer to negotiate a deal” and “the board doesn’t care to
meet”, at no time did the reporter seek comments from the Board negotiating committee or
Administration to respond or provide further information for a balanced report.

To clarify, the Brick Board of Education, its negotiation committee, Board President and
District Administration have worked diligently towards an agreement. The parties met on 10
occasions between February 5 and October 15, 2018 for formal negotiations. In addition, there
have been multiple informal emails, texts and telephone calls between the Negotiations
Committee and the Union leadership. Furthermore, Mr. Puglisi recently requested a meeting on
January 23rd between himself, Superintendent Dalton and Board President Wohlrab. When Mr.
Dalton informed Mr. Puglisi the other members of the committee should be included Mr., Puglisi
responded, “never mind...” and cancelled the meeting request because he did not want to meet
with the committee. Consequently, on January 24th, Mr. Dalton requested and confirmed a
meeting date of January 28th, in his office with himself, Board President Wohlrab and Mr.
Puglisi. The meeting was pleasant and productive with a strong focus on a positive outcome for
the upcoming mediation session. All parties left the meeting feeling heard.

Although both parties have negotiated well for the past eleven months neither party was
able to reach consensus. Therefore, the Board and BTEA filed for Impasse which is a service and
procedural mechanism prescribed by the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission
(PERC) for situations such as this, i.e. when the parties are unable to reach an amicable
agreement and may benefit from the services and input of an impartial and neutral party.
Accordingly, our mediation is scheduled for February 28 at 7pm.

Clearly the Board has not refused nor otherwise failed to meet and has been willing to
consider any other options offered by BTEA Leadership before or since the Impasse Filing.

Unfortunately, while the Board of Education would like to share the detailed nuance of
the negotiations process with the public, our lawyers have advised against such action as it may
violate confidentiality requirements under the law concerning negotiations. However, we will
say the Board has offered competitive and fair salary and other proposals which are not only
comparative of other districts, but also consider historical settlements in Brick as well as our
current ability to pay salaries and fund educational, co-curricular, extracurricular, and other
activities in our district.

We look forward to working with BTEA Leadership to reach an agreement for our hard-
working staff. We are One Brick.