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Staff and union speakers press Asbury Park board to approve ratified contract amid staffing cuts fears
Summary
During public comment March 26, multiple teachers, union representatives, and support staff urged the Asbury Park board to approve a ratified contract that staff say was overwhelmingly accepted and has been pending for months. Speakers warned that proposed 30% staff cuts or consolidations would critically harm students and noted staff have been working without a contract since July 1, 2025.
Multiple Asbury Park educators and union representatives used the March 26 public‑comment period to press the board to approve a staff contract they say was ratified by employees and has not yet been accepted by the board.
Sean Hamilton, a fifth‑grade teacher, thanked the board for appointing an acting superintendent but urged prompt action on a staff contract. “We have been working without a contract for nearly a year,” Hamilton said, and he warned that proposals circulating to cut 30% of staff or consolidate students into a single building would “destroy our district.”
Meg Watkins, speaking for the Asbury Park Education Association, said the negotiation committee reached an agreement that staff overwhelmingly ratified and asked the board to vote on that contract rather than proceed to impasse and potential arbitration. She told the board the district workforce has shrunk over time from about 650 to under 300 employees, a figure she presented as context for why further concessions are not sustainable.
Other speakers — including Danielle Petruchi, a learning‑disability teacher consultant, and a speech therapist who identified only as Edley — described working without a contract since July 1, 2025, and said there has been no salary increase since 2024. Petruchi stated that summer and extended‑year hourly stipends have not changed since 2019, leaving staff with wages that have not kept pace with cost‑of‑living increases.
Board members did not immediately adopt a contract at the March 26 meeting; public commenters urged the board to prioritize fairness and to reconvene bargaining to avoid further destabilizing staff and students.
