Tentative accord reached in Kaneland Dist. 302 teacher dispute
Kaneland teachers will vote Sunday on a proposed new three-year contract.
Neither school district nor union officials would discuss details of the contract Friday, including how much pay will be increased. Both sides said they would wait until after the union and school board vote on the deal before releasing details.
The agreement was reached at 11:30 p.m. Thursday after four sessions of mediation and under the guidance of a federal mediator.
The Kaneland Education Association will vote on the contract at 4 p.m. Sunday. If the union approves it, the school board will vote on the contract at 7 p.m. Monday.
When asked Friday if they would vote in favor of the contract, Kaneland school board President Lisa Wiet and Trustee Deborah Grant said "yes." Trustees Jonathan Berg and Cheryl Krauspe declined to answer, saying they thought it inappropriate to reveal their positions before the union voted. Messages left for the other three trustees had not been returned Friday afternoon.
On Oct. 6 the 360-member teachers union voted 267-11 to file a 10-day notice of intent to strike. However, the teachers did not vote to strike, despite the deadline passing, instead waiting to see if the federal mediator could help.
The district proposed a three-year contract weeks ago that started with a base salary of $34,400 for a teacher with a bachelor's degree, no experience and no graduate education. It proposed increasing salaries overall by 4.5 percent in the first year of the contract, 6 percent in the second and 5.3 percent in the third; the base would also increase each year, to $37,581 in the third year of the contract. This is for a 180-day school year and does not include any stipends for extra duties. A starting teacher made $34,019 for the 2007-08 school year in Kaneland.
The district's Web site said that the teacher's union proposed a starting base of $34,869, with overall increases of 5.8 percent in the first year, 6.5 in the second and 5.1 in the third. The base would also increase each year, to $37,082 in the last year of the contract.