The resolution passed 3-2, with board president George McDermott, Anthony Blanco and Karen Palatella voting in favor of hiring the firm and Sharon Granell and Kathy Kartanowicz voting against it. Granell and Kartanowicz said they would have preferred the board’s sitting attorneys Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper, P.C., to handle the negotiations. The negotiations are scheduled to begin next month, according to Superintendent Oliver Stringham.

McDermott and Palatella, who belong to the board’s collective bargaining committee, selected Adams Stern Gutierrez & Lattiboudere because the firm agreed to a $7,500 cap on services. Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper said they would not agree to a cap on services.

"Money’s been a big issue," said McDermott. "I would’ve loved to use our sitting attorneys if they would have given us a cap."

Granell and Kartanowicz were concerned about quality. "I don’t shop that way. It’s not always the best price, it’s what are you getting for your money," said Granell.

She and McDermott attended the New Jersey School Board’s convention in Atlantic City this month and an attorney from the board’s law firm spoke during a workshop on school board negotiations. Granell said she was impressed with the speech and felt the firm’s reputation was worth the cost. Attorney Tony Sciarrillo would have handled negotiations if the board had selected Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper.

Granell said she did not find out about the other firm until the board of education meeting. "I have no clue who they are," she said. "For all I know, they could be great."

McDermott understood the reasons for their opposition, but still felt money was the bigger issue. "We won’t know if it was a good idea or a bad idea until after the negotiations," he added.

If negotiations break down and the teacher’s union and the board of education go to arbitration, the board will need to renegotiate a price with the attorneys, according to McDermott.

Teacher contracts expire at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 2009. North Arlington voters knocked down the school budget in 2007, the same year they faced a 33-percent municipal tax increase. North Arlington’s tax woes, due to a number of factors affecting the borough, most significantly the anticipated loss of an economically favorable trash baler and landfill, helped the borough during its arbitration with the police union.

The teacher’s union could face a similar situation next year if the board can convince them, through negotiations or if the matter moves to arbitration, that school taxes are too high and wage increases need to be kept low.

Still, North Arlington’s highest paid teachers earn less money than the highest paid teachers in every other district in south Bergen, including Carlstadt, East Rutherford, Rutherford and Lyndhurst. The top paid teachers in North Arlington earn just under $84,000 annually.