Committee chair's ideas described as unfeasible BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer OLD BRIDGE - Ideas put forth by Board of Education Strategic Planning Committee Chairman Matt Sulikowski to help fund the proposed full-day kindergarten are simply not feasible for the district, school administrators said this week. "There isn't any savings at all from anything he was talking about," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Simon Bosco said in reference to statements made by Sulikowski in the March 1 Suburban. At the committee's Feb. 27 meeting, Sulikowski talked about recruiting retirees to fill positions left vacant by retiring teachers in township schools. He said the returning retired teachers would not need benefits packages or paid days off, and that they could be paid on a per-day basis in order to create a savings for the district. Bosco refuted Sulikowski's proposal on several counts. Old Bridge is one of two districts in the county in which all school employees are unionized, he said. The contract for district employees also covers substitute teachers, and it dictates that long-term substitutes are paid the salary of a regular teacher, he said. "A retired teacher can be hired as a long-term substitute without jeopardizing their pension, but they cannot be hired to fill a vacant job, or their pension stops and they have to go back into the system," Bosco said. Sulikowski responded, however, that he would like to see an amendment put into the existing contract to allow for his proposal. "Dr. Bosco is a union man, and he's going to protect it," Sulikowski said. "Things have to change. We can't do the same thing every day, because the taxpayers don't want to hold on to the burden of things staying the same." For over 30 years, Bosco said, Sulikowski worked in the school system under the existing contract and enjoyed the benefits of it. In addition, Bosco said an amendment to the contract would have to be negotiated with the union. "I'm the superintendent of schools. I have to protect the school district. I don't protect any union. If we did, unilaterally, what Mr. Sulikowski wanted to do, we'd be sued," Bosco said. Another idea of Sulikowski's for creating savings was the possibility of allowing employees with spouses who receive benefits packages from their jobs to opt out of the school's benefits package. He proposed an incentive of several thousand dollars for those willing to do so. Bosco, along with school Business Administrator Nancy Mongon, said it would not represent a large savings to the district, and that it was not viable overall. Such a plan would also have to be negotiated, they said, and there would be numerous factors involved, like rates changing because of fewer enrolled, and the ratio of individuals with health issues. They said they have been investigating ways to save on benefits by researching and surveying other districts, and have already come up with some substantial gains for the school system. "We negotiated now so every employee has to go into a preferred provider option (PPO)," Bosco said. "That was a huge concession on the part of the union." There are also now higher deductibles on health insurance plans in the district, they said. "Your priority is to achieve savings," Mongon said. "These are guaranteed savings from every employee." But Sulikowski countered that his ideas need to be investigated further by administrators to create further savings for the district. "They treat education as a business," Sulikowski said. "I treat it as a service to the students. If I can save this community even $500, I will go for it." Sulikowski's committee has proposed that the district implement full-day kindergarten, and he is hoping to find savings within the district budget so that the new program can be afforded. Bosco and Mongon said the only way the full-day kindergarten program can be implemented is by holding a referendum. Space for the program is the biggest issue, since having to build new facilities would represent the largest cost involved. A projected cost issued in January did not include the possible expense of additional facilities, Bosco said. Before any plans for the program move forward, Bosco said, the Board of Education needs to vote to investigate the concept further. The new board, which is expected to undergo a change in three of the nine seats this April, would make that decision. "There is no level of budget cuts that could fund a full-day kindergarten," Bosco said. "There is so much more work that needs to be done."