Hutton: Let Me Hammer Out New Teacher Contract

Ridgewood Board of Education Trustee Bob Hutton is running for re-election on a simple platform – he says he’s seeking a one-year term to control the greatest local tax driver in the village. 

"It's a unique opportunity just having the one year term available because I certainly have invested too much time to date in not seeing the teacher negotiations through their conclusion,” he said in an interview. “It's not an item – looking at the total picture – to rush to conclusion. We knew going into it all the powers that be – a 2 percent cap, a 3-year contract, healthcare costs – in essence we'd have one bite at the apple.”

The average resident in Ridgewood pays about $14,000 annually between school (about $10,000) and municipal taxes, which require budgets of $90 and $42 million, respectively. Roughly half of the school costs go toward paying salaries and benefits, according to figures. Instructional salaries were frozen for the current budget year, and a 2 percent increase has been allocated for the upcoming budget.

The district had asked teachers to make concessions in two of the last three years, but to no avail. Talks now are in the hands of a state-appointed fact finder, and remain behind closed doors.

“If we're going to make any impact in a spending plan, it's going to be in that arena,” he said.

A trustee for nine years with a background in finance and the chief negotiator for the district, Hutton dismissed the idea that a new team of negotiators should be brought to the bargaining table on the board side.

He’s running against Jim Morgan, a former CFO who has vocally criticized the board’s approach to handling its finances.

“The voters have a choice of extending my term for one year to continue a focus on the largest cost in our budget that impacts their education day in and day out, and their tax dollars,” Hutton said, mentioning that some of the proposals on the table are his handiwork. “When you're dealing with your largest group of employee population, I personally don't think it would be advantageous to anyone to change the team at this point."

Morgan, in letters sent to The Ridgewood News and in press releases, has said the district has a mindset of ‘spend it if you can,’ instead of looking to keep taxes flat or even reduce the size of the budget.

Hutton said the school board did not ask administrators to take those approaches this year, but doesn’t think it would have changed the sum either way.

"Would we have come up with a different answer? I doubt it,” he said, saying it was an early discussion at the Finance Committee. “Knowing the primary cost drivers in that budget ... I'd be the first one to say let's hold the line and do it without a tax increase. Is that educationally and fiscally possible? I don't think so."

Hutton makes no bones about running largely to finish one job, but acknowledges the district faces challenges in numerous other arenas. 

The loss of $3 million in state aid in 2010 eliminated Reading Recovery, several administrators, forced languages cuts, he said.

"In the grand scheme of things, we're probably not going to see that back,” Hutton said. “We have always tried to the best extent possible keeping cuts out of the classroom. We have tried and successfully held class size at very reasonable levels because we believe that is a cornerstone of Ridgewood public education."

Class sizes, larger than similar Factor J (highest scoring, top socioeconomic districts in the state) districts, aren’t a big concern to Hutton given what he said is the character students.

“Because Ridgewood is truly a community that values education and when you have the parents and community input, the general 'lift' that a district needs is an easier lift than if you put the same formula in Newark," he said, cautioning that there are still issues of harassment, intimidation and bullying (H.I.B.) in Ridgewood and keeping class sizes down helps address them.

Providing the proper degree of individualized attention to students at all academic ends of the spectrum remains something to keep an eye on, he said. “It’s a constant struggle,” he remarked, adding the district has at the high school level added more tracks in math.

Special education costs are up 25 percent over last year and the quality of Ridgewood’s programs present a build-it-they-will-come complex, he said. There’s no cap set on the multi-million dollar cost but the district has tried to keep more students in-house to realize savings.

“As soon as a child goes out of district, we've basically lost that child,” he said. “They're not returning.”

Hutton blames the state for not holding its end of the bargain in contributing to special education costs.

“The rule was anything in excess of $40,000 to educate a child was on the state,” he said. “If we ever saw that money we'd be having a different conversation. Extraordinary aid is part and parcel to partially funding the mandate and allocating the rest across districts.”

Ultimately, despite challenges and tight budgets, the quality of Ridgewood’s education system remains high, he contends. "I'm still amazed how well we're able to do. On SAT scores, graduation rates, we are always at the proverbial top of that group,” he said.

Math scores following the implementation of the controversial ‘Connected math’ have risen, though room for progress can be made on the middle school level, Hutton conceded. 

Hutton has been in the crosshairs of neighbors of the high school who say he’s been dismissive of the maintenance needs of the facilities and the potential long-term costs. 

He defended his decisions during the interview, stating that “those fields flooded before, those fields will flood again” and the record rainfall in the spring and summer of 2011 was an anomaly.

When asked, he said the only regrets he had would be in placing bollards to keep traffic off the closed footbridge sooner.

Though he won’t be around on the school board to see any such initiatives go through, Hutton envisions a Ridgewood with a uniform policy or dress code at the middle school level; a restructuring of teacher contracts and salary ‘steps’; and a requirement that parents participate in school activities as a condition of student graduation. 

“Even attending an HSA meeting, attending a board meeting, even a sports activity,” he said. “Even in Ridgewood, if you look at the broader New Jersey education, we can conclude money does not solve the problem.”

School elections take place April 17. Trustee Vince Loncto and candidate Gina Damasco are squaring off for a three-year.