The district currently does not have any approved coaches for next school year
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP -- A contract dispute may threaten to sideline the fall sports season in the Bordentown Regional School District after the coaching positions failed to garner enough votes from the school board for approval.
Five votes were required for approval, but a 4-3 vote with one abstention means that the district's 26 high school and middle school teams currently do not have any approved coaches for next school year.
Board members Kevin Creegan, Salvatore Schiano, Edward Tyler and Kimberly Zablow voted in favor of the coaches Wednesday, while Josh Fausti, Stephen Heberling and William Mercantini cast the dissenting votes. Board president Mark Drew abstained.
The vote comes two months after 23 coaches said that, amid stalled contract negotiations, they would not be involved in any summer camps, leagues, scrimmages, conditioning or preparations for school events -- either in the planning, coordinating, supervising or otherwise.
"In light of significant drops in take-home pay over the past several years and a sense of disrespect from the board for the hundreds of extra hours that we do and the sacrifices we have made, we will not continue to donate our time during the summer for hours in which we are not compensated," they wrote in an April letter that was published in the monthly Bordentown Current.
"Unfortunately, we are facing a very difficult economic situation and a frustrating work environment. ... Consequently, we have been left little choice but to limit our work to the specific contours of our contracts until the Board of Education recognizes our dedication and agrees to treat us fairly."
The teachers have been working under a contract that expired June 30, 2015 and negotiations remain in a fact-finding stage. They said this is the third time in a row that negotiations have reached an impasse.
Schools Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer said in an email that the school board's questions mostly centered around the coaches' decision not to participate in any voluntary activities prior to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association's start dates and how the athletes' experiences would differ from years past.
He said there were also questions about the official starting date for coaches and the fall season.
"I attempted to answer the questions, but there still appeared to be some confusion," he said.
NJSIAA has set the start dates for football as Aug. 10 and all other fall sports as Aug. 15, meaning that the coaches would have been unable to hold mandatory practices until those dates.
"With respect to the impact for next year, that is yet to be seen," Forsthoffer said. "My hope is that the coaches will be approved at the next board meeting and we can begin preparations for the fall season."
The next board meeting is July 13.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.