Bridgewater-Raritan Committee to Discuss Assistant Librarians

Monday, June 11, the three-person Finance Committee of the BR-BOE meets with the administration to review the status of eight laid-off assistant librarians. These people were cut from the 2007/2008 budget, as part of the $1.6 million reduction to the rejected proposal put before Bridgewater and Raritan voters on April 17.

The committee meeting is unlikely to be a typical one for at least three reasons:

• Feelings on this issue are running very high.
• Rarely is a committee directed by the board to revisit a budget cut recently approved by itself.
• This meeting will test whether or not the committee will stick to the board’s own rules for self-governance – clearly stated in board policy – that an alternate committee member can attend only if one of the three regulars cannot be present. (See my blog of June 6, for the impact of a potential tie-vote.)

Sometimes, a BR-BOE committee will invite one or more people from the public to listen in or to participate. However, Monday’s meeting is expected to be closed. This makes it vital that the rules be followed to a T, including promptly released minutes which accurately reflect deliberations and the recommendation to the full board.