Teachers in the Central Regional School District have been working without a contract since last June, and negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday failed to produce an agreement, according to Superintendent Dr. Triantafillos Parlapanides.

Lining up at Central Regional
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"We're hoping that both sides get back to the table and hopefully get this thing resolved shortly, in the next couple of days, next week or so," said Parlapanides.

The ongoing dispute between the Union representing the teachers and the Board of Education resulted in a Dodge Ball Tournament and an Art show being cancelled, but Parlapanides said the District was hoping to reschedule those events for next month.

"Kids should never be in the middle of it. Without the kids, there would be no Central, so the kids are the most important thing in this whole thing," Parlapanides said.

Students also have expressed concerns about the Junior and Senior proms being cancelled, but Parlapanides sounded cautiously optimistic.

"Those hopefully won't be affected. We'll have chaperones and so forth for that," said Parlapanides.

Health care costs and salary increases remain sticking points and coming up with a fair number that's good for teachers, the taxpayers and the Board, according to Parlapanides.

There has been criticism that Central Regional teachers currently have the second highest average salary in the country, but Parlapanides pointed out that he hired 40 new teachers last year to replace veteran teachers who were retiring.

"If you've been here 30 years, you're going to have a higher salary then say a first year teacher. If you look at our overall average now, after we have all these new teachers, we're probably if not middle of the pack, maybe lower end of the scale," he said.

Parlapanides pointed out that after Superstorm Sandy, teachers accepted a flat 2 percent raise, and he froze his salary for 5 years.

Educators are seeking the average pay increase for teachers in Ocean County, which Parlapanides estimated was about 2.5 percent or 2.7 percent.

"Hopefully we'll be fair and offer a fair deal and hopefully get this thing settled as soon as possible," said Parlapanides.

 

 

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