School Board’s Negotiations Committee Awaits BREA Counter-Offer

At Tuesday evening’s work session of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education this week, Mr. Jeffrey Brookner, its President and head of the Negotiations Committee, provided a succinct status of the ongoing talks with the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association – it represents the teachers and certain other school district employees.

Jeffrey Brookner, listens to input at Board Mtg. (Photo/R.Bergeron)

He confirmed that the Board’s Negotiations Committee had not met as scheduled on Monday, April 11^th, because the BREA had requested additional time to formulate its strategy.  The last meeting between the two groups took place on March 22. 

Brookner stated that the Board had previously presented an offer to the BREA, and that the Board was now awaiting the union’s response, or counteroffer.  A phone call to his office seeking more clarity and information had not been returned at the time of this post.

Today, in an early afternoon discussion with Steve Beatty, President of the BREA, the district’s largest bargaining unit, he said that his association had been waiting for additional information from the Board’s attorney, “before we could accurately and thoughtfully respond.”  He added that late Monday afternoon, the information had been received and was now being reviewed.

Pressed for more specificity, he would only say that it was in regards to “salary and benefits.” When asked if he would disclose for public knowledge the offer(s) and counteroffer(s) that might be on the table, Mr. Beatty declined to provide that information.  (It should be noted that the Board of Education has taken a similar stand, at least up to this point.)

Steve Beatty, prepares to question the B-R BOE. (Photo/R. Bergeron)

Beatty seemed comfortable about, “trying to get general information out there,” but was reluctant to go beyond what has already been said, adding that there “is more to lose by playing it (the negotiations) out in the public.”

Queried again about whether an agreement might be reached before the school elections on April 27^th, he said, “I don’t know about that.”  However, he did volunteer that the BREA’s counterproposal would be presented to the School Board “very shortly . . . we will have a counterproposal (to the Board) before the 27^th, adding that, “if (it is) accepted, OK.  If not, then we go on.”

In response to the question, “Who is the BREA endorsing” in the seven-person race for three open School Board seats:  “Nobody, at this point,” but volunteered that the BREA is preparing a newsletter with bios on all the candidates, “except for one who did not provide information”. The BREA plans to distribute the newsletter internally to its members.

There are two other significant bargaining groups in the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, that of the principals, and that of the supervisors:  all is quiet on that front.  Both units seem to be hedging on the outcome of a potential BREA settlement.