Another 'holiday' for some schools Teacher protest rally forces Monday closing Saturday, December 09, 2006 • BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL AND BRENDAN BERLS • Star-Ledger Staff Classrooms in several school districts around the state will be empty on Monday as officials have canceled classes to accommodate thousands of teachers traveling to Trenton for a union protest rally against proposals to trim public employee pensions and benefits. The Morris School District and the South Amboy school system sent letters home to parents yesterday announcing the unscheduled closing. "Since the schools can't guarantee an effective day of instruction without the presence of our staff, the district schools will be closed," South Amboy Superintendent Robert Sheedy wrote. "This day will be rescheduled after evaluating our use of the emergency snow day allotment. ... I apologize for any inconvenience that this adjustment to the school calendar will cause." Officials in the Morris School District decided to cancel Monday's classes after 80 teachers notified their superiors they would not be at work. "The decision to close schools was not made lightly," Superintendent Thomas Ficarra wrote in a letter to parents. "However, as the number of teachers notifying us of their anticipated absences continued to rise, it became apparent that we would not be able to ensure a safe environment and quality instruction for our students." For parents, the sudden day off meant a scramble for child care. "I'm sorry the teachers are unhappy, but why do we all have to pay?" said Karen Smith, a Morris Township mom with children in grades 2, 4 and 6. Smith, a stay-at-home parent, considers herself lucky. "I'm not too badly put out by it, but I know a lot of people who are," she said. "Parents (who work) are having to take the day off, which kind of stinks. I'm kind of annoyed that I'm just finding out about this now." To make up for missing Monday, Morris students will have to attend school on May 25, which had been scheduled as a staff development day for teachers. The teachers will make up for the missed development day by coming to work on June 25, said Mary Donohoe, a district spokeswoman. In other communities, such as Parsippany, Randolph and West Windsor-Plainsboro, local officials bargained with union officials to keep enough teachers on hand to conduct scheduled classes. In Parsippany -- Morris County's largest district, with 7,200 students -- Superintendent Lee Seitz said enough substitutes were lined up after the teachers union warned early in the week that approximately 75 teachers would be taking a personal day to attend the rally. Hiring 75 substitutes, about three times as many as on a typical day, will cost the district about $7,000. In Randolph, Superintendent Max Riley said he and the teachers union president had negotiated to ensure that the schools were open Monday. They agreed to allow 40 of the roughly 500 teachers in the district to go to the rally, a figure based on the availability of substitutes. "I don't anticipate any problems," Riley said. The 40 substitutes will cost the Randolph district $2,800 to $3,600. In West Windsor-Plainsboro, a sprawling Mercer County school district, officials persuaded the local union to send just 140 teachers to the rally -- far fewer than the 540 who had sought the day off. Officials in Cinnaminson, Gloucester City and the Burlington County Institute of Technology were not so fortunate. They have announced plans to shut Monday in the face of widespread teacher absenteeism. Sue Epstein, Al Frank, John Wihbey, the Times of Trenton and the Associated Press contributed to this report. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.