Contract talks

Only two Middlesex Board of Education members – Todd Nicolay and Sharon Schueler – are negotiating a new contract with the Middlesex Education Association (MEA).

That’s because the other six board members have a conflict of interest preventing them from involvement in the bargaining.

Nicolay mentioned the conflict situation in brief comments before the Middlesex Borough Republican Organization during its monthly meeting on Wednesday, June 19 at Beechwood Firehouse.

Inside – Middlesex contacted School Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman, who commented further via email on Monday, July 1.

The MEA’s prior three-year contract expired on June 30. Public employee unions often work under the terms of their old contracts while new ones are being negotiated.

The BOE currently stands at eight members due to the recent resignation of Elyse Robbins who moved out of the district, according to Freeman.

Freeman outlined the conflicts preventing the six board members from negotiating with the MEA.

Five BOE members – President Danielle Parenti, Shannon Quinn, Patricia Reynolds, Amanda Bayachek and Brenda Perry – have a relative employed in the Middlesex Borough school district, Freeman wrote. Perry is also a member of a teacher’s union in another district.

Vice President Jeanette DeJesus is a member of a teachers’ union in another district. DeJesus cannot negotiate the MEA contract, but could negotiate with the Middlesex Administrators/Supervisors Association or a superintendent’s contract, according to Freeman.

Had she not moved, Robbins would have also been unable to negotiate with the MEA because her husband is a member of a teachers’ union in another district, Freeman wrote.

While the MEA contract expired at June’s end, Freeman’s contract runs until June 30, 2027.

The situation with a majority of BOE members holding a conflict is addressed in state education law. It allows for the invoking of the Doctrine of Necessity in such instances.

That doctrine allows for conflicted BOE members to vote on ratifying contracts for which they were barred from negotiating due to conflicts. Before a contract vote, a BOE invoking the Doctrine of Necessity issues a statement with specifics about the conflicted members.

“The Doctrine of Necessity is intended to be invoked on the rare occasion when a quorum of school board members are conflicted on a particular matter and as a result, the school board is unable to act,” reads an online commentary by Jonathan M. Busch, a nationally recognized education law attorney who heads a Metuchen firm.

“In other words, the Doctrine of Necessity serves as one of the most ironic concepts in school law: it may only be invoked if too many members cannot vote, and as a result, all of them may,” Busch added.

According to a 2018 article published by northjersey.com, at least six New Jersey school boards invoked the Doctrine of Necessity multiple times the prior year. Those boards were: Lyndhurst (10), Wayne (6), Ridgefield (6), Saddle Brook (6), Woodbridge (5), and Lodi (5).

A spokesperson for the state’s School Ethics Commission said there are no specific limits to how often the Doctrine of Necessity could be invoked, the article states.

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