UPDATE: BOE, Union Set for Mediation After Contract Impasse

UPDATE: Board Member Kevin O'Sullivan, who sits on the negotiation committee, said the board of education and the union are still "millions (of dollars) apart" in their negotiations to settle a new contract. 

He criticized the MEA for accusing the board of refusing to meet with union representatives, since it was the union that requested mediation in the first place

"Mediation means we're at an impasse," he said. "Either we need help, or we don't need help."

Board President Don Mishler called the MEA's statements at last week's board meeting "somewhat disingenuous."

"When a party applies for mediation, it would seem to me an admission ... that outside help is necessary to strike a deal," he said.

O'Sullivan added, "If they (the union) have an offer that shows that they understand what the needs are, then we'll sit down with them."

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A mediator will be brought in to help the school board and Moorestown Education Association (MEA) come to terms after the parties reached an impasse in their ongoing contract negotiations. 

Board Member Kevin O'Sullivan said the board and union met several times over the last few months, but could not come to terms on the details of the new contract. The existing contract—which was reached after more than a year of often intense negotiating—expires June 30.

O'Sullivan said the MEA filed for mediation on May 2. Superintendent Brian Betze said the district is now waiting for the state to assign a mediator.

Members of the union expressed frustration with the board at its Tuesday meeting, claiming the board had refused to meet with them, canceling two meetings this month, following the request for mediation.

"We can continue to work while we wait," said teacher Heather Trapani, one of several school staff members who addressed their concerns to the board. "Everybody in this room knows that mediation is a slow process ... Our goal has been to settle our new contract before September 1, to start the school year with a contract. We've been down this road before, and we will go down it again. The choice is the board's."

The district began the 2010 school year without a contract after the previous one expired, and was days away from beginning the 2011 school year when a settlement was reached on the current contract. 

"Let's please settle now so we can all do what we are supposed to do: teach and serve the children," commented one teacher, to loud applause from the roughly 100 teachers and staff members in attendance. 

Betze said the board is just as interested in coming to terms on a new contract as the union: "Both sides want to reach a resolution much sooner than later."

In a statement to Patch, MEA president Lisa Trapani wrote, "The MEA filed for mediation when it became clear that the BOE was moving us farther apart, not closer together ... Our goal has been to settle our contract before September 1. The BOE is preventing that from happening by canceling meetings and declining to schedule new ones. The MEA is ready and willing to continue negotiating."

Tuesday's meeting ended late and Patch was unable to obtain further comment from the school board.