Dist. 300, teachers reach tentative agreement on contract

After six months of bargaining, Community Unit School District 300 and its teachers union have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year contract, officials said Wednesday.

"It was a really good, rich, robust conversation," Superintendent Fred Heid said. "The focus was never on management rights versus employee rights. What I was really proud of was the sincere focus on staff and students. It was a really good dialogue about what can we do to help retain teachers, what's going to make District 300 more attractive (to new teachers), responsibilities and instructional time."

The Algonquin-based district educates roughly 21,000 students.

Contract details have not been released and the agreement is yet to be ratified by union membership. The roughly 1,800 members of the Local Education Association of District 300 (LEAD 300) are expected to vote on ratification the week of Sept. 14.

"Contract negotiations are always about the learning conditions of our students and the working conditions of our members," LEAD 300 President Michael Williamson said. "Really, these conditions are one and the same. Through the interest-based bargaining process, teachers, administration, and the board have partnered to build a better district for all our communities."

The previous three-year contract expired June 30. It included step increases of 3 percent, 2 percent, and 3 percent to the base salary for each of the three school years, respectively.

Heid said negotiations this time were less contentious than during previous contracts - teachers went on strike for a day in December of 2012.

"We worked very well together," Heid said. "We built trust."

The new contract will be effective retroactively from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2019.

Heid said officials decided to make this contract longer for the district's stability in an era of economic uncertainty.

"A four-year contract allows us to move forward," he added. "It ensures that we have the right things in place. It takes it through the end of my contract time with the district. It's a really good step forward for everyone involved to ensure that the kids get a high quality educational experience. We feel that we are in a good position that we can sustain some things."

Heid stressed if something drastic should happen financially, the district has a healthy reserve balance of 25 percent of operating expenses.

The school board is expected to review and vote on the contract at its Sept. 22 meeting.

"Throughout the collective bargaining process, the board of education, administration, and LEAD 300 all remained steadfast that the quality of our students' education remained our primary responsibility and consideration," District 300 school board President Anne Miller said in a news release.