The Ocean City Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday night to approve a new three-year contract with teachers. But the approval came with no discussion and no public disclosure of the terms of the contract.
Personnel costs account for more than $31 million of Ocean City’s $40 million school budget, and the median salary of faculty members exceeded $90,000 (compared to a statewide median of $63,851) when the district negotiated its last contract, according to the state Department of Education school report cards for 2010-2011. Teacher salaries are the single biggest factor in determining school taxes paid by Ocean City property owners.
After Wednesday’s meeting, Board President Joe Clark said a board attorney would e-mail details of the contract to reporters on Thursday (check back here for updates).
Contract negotiations are confidential and discussed by the board only in executive sessions that are closed to the public. But with both the Ocean City Education Association (teachers’ union) and Ocean City Board of Education ratifying the new agreement, the new contract is now public record.
The new agreement will be in effect from July 1, 2014 (retroactively) through June 30, 2017.
The last teachers’ contract, in effect from July 2011 through June 2014, called for 1.99 percent annual salary increases for teachers and eliminated two separate longevity “step” increases effective only for new employees.
Financial summaries are typically provided to the board and the public by the school business administrator, but Business Administrator Pasquale “Pat” Yacovelli had resigned after working only nine months in Ocean City and did not attend Wednesday’s meeting.
Yacovelli was hired at a $137,500 annual salary with additional shared services stipends of $3,500 for the Corbin City School District and $10,000 for the Sea Isle City School District. He started work in the district in December 2013, and is reportedly now working in the Buena Regional School District.
The board voted Wednesday to accept Yacovelli’s resignation effective Oct. 7. They also approved a professional services contract with Terrence Crowley to provide business office/board secretary services from Sept. 24 through Dec. 31 at $60 per hour, not to exceed 35 hours per week.
Crowley is a retired Cape May County executive superintendent of schools. He worked during Wednesday’s meeting.
“It will be good to get back to where things actually happen,” Crowley said of returning to work closer to students and teachers.
