U-46, union reach deal on long-term substitute teachers

A month after several long-term substitutes were told to pack up and go home without warning, Elgin Area School District U-46 and its teachers union appear to have reached a compromise.

According to the tentative agreement announced at Monday's school board meeting, U-46 will pay long-term substitutes $99 per day for the first 19 days of service. Upon the 20th day, substitutes will be paid $175 per day. Those teachers will not receive benefits, however.

District officials began dismissing the substitutes in late September to avoid having to pay a higher rate specified in the current Elgin Teachers Association contract.

The contract mandated that substitute teachers make one rate for the first 19 days of continuous service, $99. After working the 20th day, they would receive equivalent to a full-time teachers' rate, $386 per day. Teachers who worked 90 days or more were eligible for insurance.

Dismissing the substitutes sparked outcry from union officials, parents, and teachers alike at recent school board meetings.

The agreement will modify the language in the contract.

According to an e-mail sent to principals and administrators Monday afternoon by U-46 attorney Pat Broncato, the agreement will cost the district approximately $500,000 more than was budgeted.

"However, both parties agree that this resolution is in the best interests to all involved," Broncato wrote.