School Calendar: Rescheduling Snow Days

lrAfter a difficult winter, with snow and inclement weather causing numerous cancellations, boards are looking to changes in the school calendar to reschedule these days.  Boards will want to consult with its labor relations professionals and the NJSBA but should be aware of the following rulings:

  • The establishment of the school calendar is a non-negotiable management decision. Burlington County College, 64 N.J. 101 (1973).
  • The decision to modify the school calendar is not negotiable.  Piscataway Twp. Board of Education, __ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 1998), cert. den. ___ N.J. ___ (1998).
  • However, the impact of that decision may be negotiable. The negotiability of impact issues is determined on a case-by-case basis based on  a balancing test enunciated in Woodstown-Pilesgrove Board of Education, 81 N.J. 582 (1980).
  • Thus, a board is not obligated to negotiate over the decision to cancel spring recess and reopen schools on those days; but the board may have an obligation to negotiate over impact issues so long as, on balance, negotiations over those issues would not significantly interfere with the related prerogative (in this case setting of the school calendar).  Piscataway.
  • A board has been found to have an obligation to bargain over such impact issues as the loss of non-refundable tickets.  Piscataway Twp. Board of Education, PERC No. 99-39.