A Letter From a Central Regional Senior About Teacher Contracts

I'm a senior at
Central Regional High School and I feel very strongly about this issue
and feel as though more people should know about what is going on so
that they could help to better the situation. I spoke to Mike Mannion,
a teacher at Central Regional High School and also represents the
teachers as the Head of their Union, who set the record straight and
dispelled any false information and rumors that have been going around
about said issue.
He told me that teachers of the Central Regional School District have
been working without a contract since June 30th of 2015. As well as
the teachers; administration, secretaries, janitors, and everyone else
except for bus drivers and cafeteria staff are affected by this. On
December 1st of 2014, the staff and faculty began negotiating with the
Board of Education who proposed to reduce their pay for four
consecutive years as well as cutting some of their health benefits.
Teachers especially are outraged by this because they often volunteer
their time for no additional compensation because they truly care for
the students and their education.  Since the Board of Education
believes that they deserve less pay, the teachers stopped volunteering
their time and began to cancel various after school activities as a
silent, peaceful protest in order to raise awareness. Students are
also outraged by this because their after school help like tutoring
and school incentives such as prom, the art show, and senior trips are
in question of being taken away. However, the issue is not about the
trips or the fun things that are being taken away, the issue is that
the faculty and staff of the Central Regional School District are
being paid less than what they deserve.
Awareness needs to be raised about the issue very quickly. The staff
and faculty need help in taking a stand and making a difference. There
will be a Board Meeting held at Central Regional High School on
Thursday March 17th at 7:00 pm. The more people that attend in favor
of the teachers that will speak up and try to make a change will be
the most effective. Anyone can attend the board meeting, however only
members from the community are allowed to speak at the end of the
meeting. If you could please help to spread the word about this issue
and try to get people to attend the board meeting to help out our
teachers!Sincerely,
A Passionate Student