Cleary Giacobbe Alfieri Jacobs, LLC Prevails in PERC Decision on Behalf of East Brunswick Board of Education Granting Scope of Negotiations Petition Seeking Restraint of Binding Arbitration Filed by Teachers’ Union

On February 26, 2026, the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (“PERC”) granted the East Brunswick Board of Education’s (“Board”) scope of negotiations petition restraining the binding arbitration of a grievance filed by the East Brunswick Education Association (“Association”).

The Board withheld the salary increment of a health and physical education teacher for poor classroom management and supervision as a result of two incidents of student injuries occurring during the teacher’s physical education classes. The Association filed a grievance contesting the withholding of the teacher’s salary increment.

PERC agreed with the Board that the withholding of the salary increment predominantly involved an evaluation of teaching performance in connection with the teacher’s failures to adequately supervise students, thus allowing an unsafe situation to occur in his classroom. PERC’s decision determined that the salary increment withholding was related to the teacher’s judgement and classroom performance.

This case was handled by Matthew J. Giacobbe, Esq. and R. Scott Eveland, Esq.