No school again Friday in McHenry

McHenry Community High School is closed again on Friday as a teacher strike continues.

Negotiations between the school board and teacher union in District 156 continued Thursday night, but no deal had been announced Friday morning.

The school will forfeit Friday's scheduled homecoming football games due and it is the second forfeit due to the strike - which began on Oct. 1 - for the Warriors. It was not clear when the next negotiation session would be held.

More than 2,500 students have been out of school for more than a week and will also miss their homecoming dance this weekend. Officials have said the event will be rescheduled.

"As soon as school resumes, the administrative team will meet with student leadership groups to gain input regarding the revision of the school calendar and missed activities," according to the District 156 announcement. "A priority will be to communicate the new calendar that includes makeup days as quickly as possible to the community."

Salary and health insurance premiums have been at the root of the dispute involving 160 McHenry County High School Educators Association union members.

The District 156 school board's last publicized offer was a flat 2.7 percent yearly increase on average for four years, including step and base pay raises.

Teachers countered, seeking an automatic step increase of 3.64 percent plus an extra 1.36 percent increase to the base pay, amounting to an overall 5 percent yearly increase. They also are asking the district to pay 100 percent of the increase on health insurance premiums.

Several proposals have been exchanged since, but details have not been released.