On behalf of the Oceanport Education Association, I am here again tonight to ask the Board to vote on ratifying the contract. Before the Board goes into executive session I ask that you remember a couple of things:

• An Agreement, which both negotiating teams agreed on, was signed on May 7. All members of both negotiating teams were present when the chairman of each team signed the agreement;
• Upon signing the Agreement negotiating came to a close;
• The OEA voted and ratified the contract and salary guides before leaving school in June.

I also think it’s important to correct some misinformation put out to the public; Mr. Orefice is not and never was part of negotiations. He was not present at any of the negotiation sessions. Also important to note is that the “wellness report” commissioned by Mr. O’Neill was brought to light after negotiations had concluded and after an agreement was signed. 

As defined by Collins English Dictionary, a committee is “a group of people chosen or appointed to perform or serve a specific service or function."  In this case, the Board’s negotiating committee met for many hours to negotiate and came to an agreement with the Education Association. I believe that tabling the contract twice already has given the members of the Board who were not on the committee ample time to review the agreement.  The time for negotiating is over, the time to vote is now.