District 158 posts contract for review

After a teacher strike that canceled school for three days, forced parents to hire babysitters and inflamed many on both sides of the contract dispute, residents of Huntley Unit District 158 now have a chance to decide if it was all worth it.

The district on Friday posted the agreement it reached with its teachers union on the district's Web site, d158.k12.il.us.

The deal, reached about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday after more than 13 hours of bargaining, shows both the school board and the union made significant concessions to reach an agreement and end the strike that began Monday.

About 87 percent of the teachers voted Thursday to approve the agreement, which replaces a two-year deal that expired June 30.

The board is scheduled to vote on the contract at 7 p.m. Monday.

Salary

The deal includes pay raises of 5.25 percent in the first year and 3.75 percent for each of the two years after that.

The increase is a dramatic drop from what the union originally proposed in April: 10.6 percent annual raises.

The raises are also a compromise for the board, which pushed for salary increases tied to the rate of inflation.

The previous contract gave most teachers pay raises of 4 percent in the first year and 5 percent in year two.

Pensions

The district will contribute 1.21 percent of teachers' salaries to their pensions in year one, 2.46 percent in year two and 3.71 percent in year three.

The pension increases were a victory for the union, which initially asked the district to pay both the required employer contribution and the amount teachers must pay. That amounted to a staggering 11.45 percent of teachers' salaries annually.

The board had offered only to pay the required contribution, 1.21 percent of salary, for each year of the contract.

Health care

With the district already covering 100 percent of employee-only health insurance premiums but only about half of family plan premiums, increases in family coverage were an important gain for the union.

The board agreed to increase the amount the district pays toward family plan premiums by more than 10 percent this year, about 6 percent next year and more than 4 percent the year after that.

The union initially asked the district to raise the amount by about 80 percent, while the board had proposed a 3 percent annual increase.

Term

The sides settled on a three-year contract, replacing the expired two-year deal.

The board sought a four-year deal until the final week of negotiations, when it softened its position that teachers could only get pension increases if they agreed to a four-year contract.

The union initially proposed another two-year contract but compromised and added a year in a counterproposal it offered last month.

Class sizes

Like the previous contract, the new agreement contains no mandatory class size limits, only guidelines.

The union proposed such limits in its initial proposal, a provision that could have cost the district between $300,000 and $1.75 million.

Work year

Under the agreement, teachers work one fewer day each year: 182 instead of 183.

Board members said the union proposed a 181-day work year during the last week of negotiations but ultimately dropped the request.

Start of school

One of the board's goals for negotiations was getting the union to agree elementary school teachers can supervise students for 10 minutes before the start of school, instead of the current five minutes.

Board members said five minutes wasn't enough time for students to get to their classrooms and that many first-period classes started late as a result.

The union agreed.

Other issues

Starting next year, the agreement gives teachers 12 sick days for their first four years in the district, instead of the current 14.

The deal boosts extracurricular stipends by 7 percent, 5 percent and 6 percent in years one, two and three of the contract, respectively.

As in the previous contract, union officials will get eight days a year to spend on union business - instead of the 50 days the union initially requested.

Teachers' work day will stay the same: seven hours and 45 minutes, including a 40-minute lunch at the elementary schools starting next year.

Teachers who earn National Board Certification will get an additional $2,000 the first year after being certified, $3,000 the second year and $4,000 the third year and every year after that.

The agreement gives the board the option to award a $500 bonus to teachers who meet certain criteria that have not yet been defined.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related documents</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="/pdf/158contract.pdf">District 158 teachers contract </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>