Bloomingdale District 13, teachers union, reach tentative deal
The teachers union and school board in Bloomingdale Elementary District 13 have reached a tentative contract agreement.
The deal became known after a Friday bargaining session that lasted more than three hours.
Board President Diane Birkley would not comment Monday on the length of the proposed pact or any other details until both sides approve it. Birkley said only that she was pleased negotiators had been able to come to an agreement and that she was “looking forward” to the new school year set to begin Aug. 17.
When union members would vote to ratify the tentative agreement is unclear. Kristen Novotny and Tiffany Denning, co-presidents of the union that represents more than 100 teachers in the three-school district, did not immediately return phone and email messages Monday.
The previous, three-year contract expired June 30. Negotiations on a new deal began in March. The Bloomingdale Council of Teachers had requested in May that a federal mediator join talks.
Teacher salaries were one of the sticking points barring an agreement, Birkley has said previously.
The most recent contract gave teachers a 5 percent raise to their base pay in the first year and a 4 percent increase in each of the last two years of the deal. The average Bloomingdale teacher salary is $52,073.
Some parents have petitioned the school board to award pay raises, citing an Illinois State Board of Education analysis that shows the minimum and maximum salaries for teachers in two categories — those with bachelor's or master's degrees — rank below those of their peers in Carol Stream and Addison school districts. The annual study contains data from the 2014-15 school year, the most recently available.
The highest-paid teacher with a bachelor's received: $64,872 in Carol Stream Elementary District 93; $60,327 in Addison Elementary District 4; $47,409 in Bloomingdale; and $45,049 in Roselle Elementary District 12, the study showed.
The district serves roughly 1,300 students who are taught in two elementary schools and one middle school.