B-R School Board Candidates at Televised Forum; Teachers Union Requests Cancellation of Negotiation Session

B-R High School student Patty Lyczkowski moderates the forum.

Candidates' Night at the High School:  This evening, at the Bridgewater-Raritan High School, five candidates running for two open seats in Bridgewater; and, two other candidates running for one open seat in Raritan went before TV cameras to make opening and closing statements about their candidacy,  and to answer three pre-determined questions provided by the Council of Schools.

The event was moderated by Patty Lyczkowski, a Bridgewater-Raritan High School Student who did an excellent job in keeping the discussion down to its time limit. 

The event was taped in a closed studio, but was made available for viewing live to any member of the public who wished to witness it in a separate room, via closed circuit TV.  After the taping, the candidates joined the viewers in an informal ‘Meet-and-Greet’ discussion for the few who attended the viewing.

 The evening’s program will be shown on community TV, and DVD’s will be made available, though schedules and cost were not yet provided.

More on that later.

BREA Cancels Negotiations Meeting.  What may be just as important as tonight’s candidates’ forum is the fact that the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association requested cancellation of this afternoon’s labor negotiations session.  The BREA represents all of the School District’s teachers, as well as other staff members.

As was reported in this blog earlier, a negotiation session was scheduled to take place between the two parties this afternoon.  However, when asked about the meeting after the Candidates’ Night taping, Board President Jeffrey Brookner said that the BREA had called him and indicated that it needed more time to formulate its plans and, therefore, that it would not be able to meet with the School Board’s Negotiations Team today.  

According to Mr. Brookner, the BREA did not indicate when it might wish to meet again to negotiate a wage and benefits contract agreement.

Thus, when Bridgewater and Raritan voters go to the polls on April 27^th, unless there is an unanticipated settlement, they will go in blind, not knowing to what extent the $129.5 million budget for the 2011-2012 school year will be affected.