The South Orange – Maplewood Board of Education voted unanimously to ratify an agreement with the South Orange/Maplewood Education Association (SOMEA) teachers’ union last week. Five board members were at the vote, held at a special meeting on November 10; four were eligible to vote: Elizabeth Baker, Beth Daugherty, Wayne Eastman and Donna Smith. Johanna Wright abstained because her daughter is a school district employee.
To read more about the process leading up to the agreement, see this article.
“The settlement between SOMEA and the Board contains many new agreements that assist both parties in clarifying important terms and conditions of employment,” said district spokeswoman Suzanne Turner. “The Board agreed to many changes to the contract based upon well-articulated concerns voiced by SOMEA, and SOMEA agreed to changes based upon active listening between the parties.” Those changes include:
- Elementary parent/teacher conferences will now be 2 evenings and 1 afternoon in the fall and spring (instead of 2 afternoons and 1 evening)
- Two additional days of mandatory orientation for new teachers for a total of 4 days of orientation
The contract is a two-year agreement (2015-2016 and 2016-2017) with the following salary settlement:
- Certificated staff 2.5% inclusive of increment* in both years
- Support staff 1.8% inclusive of increment in both years
*”Inclusive of increment” means that the pool of money for salaries for SOMEA members is increased by 2.5% overall. This money will be used both to adjust the salary amount for each step on the salary guide, and to move staff members from one step to the next on the guide.
