One-day District 46 strike near Crystal Lake over

A teachers’ strike in Prairie Grove School District 46 near Crystal Lake is over the same day it began.

School district officials announced late Friday afternoon that an agreement had been reached with the 74-member Prairie Grove Teachers’ Association, which represents instructors at the Prairie Grove elementary and junior high schools, both located on Route 176.

Students were set to return to class Monday, and officials said there would be no interruption of extracurricular activities.

The one-day strike Friday took place after a six-hour meeting with a federal mediator Thursday in which the two sides were unable to reach a new deal.

The tentative agreement announced Friday afternoon followed a 7 1/2-hour mediation session that was open to the public. The sole remaining issue had to do with teachers’ health insurance contributions, and both side were “creative” in resolving in resolving it, said Superintendent Lynette Zimmer in an announcement on the district’s website.

District officials said earlier Friday that at the beginning of the session, the only issue separating the two sides Thursday night was the union demand that the board make additional payments to some individuals for deductibles in addition to paying for premium costs.

Late in the session, the union added several other proposals, officials said on the website.

District officials said the board and union agreed to the amount of money that the board would contribute for health insurance premiums. The board also agreed to the union’s salary requests and its request for a “salary schedule,” officials said.