Outsourcing Brings Mixed Reactions From Teaneck BOE

Teaneck Board of Education trustees are not all sold on , the Record reported Monday. 

Board of Education Vice President Gervonn Rice cited her positive experience with district paraprofessionals and Englewood's experience with outsourcing scores of secretaries and professional assistants. 

"I personally would not like us to venture down that road," Rice told the newspaper. 

The impact on Teaneck's minority residents, some of whom work in the jobs slated to be cut, was also a concern, the report said. 

BOE Trustee Howard Rose said the board would take into account concerns raised by parents and staffers at a packed budget meeting last week. Rose called the decision a "balancing act" between concerns over education and the tax impact on residents, according to the report. 

Under the budget proposal, the district would outsource 27 of 68 paraprofessionals, all 46 lunch aides and an uncertain number of substitute teachers. In all, the move is projected to save $800,000.

District paraprofessionals earn $36,000 on average compared to about $24,000 for outsourced staff. 

Superintendent Barbara Pinsak has said the non-district staff would be carefully vetted and managed. 

A final public hearing on the proposed school budget is set for March 27. 

-- Staff Reports 

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