DuPage Dist. 88 may reopen contracts to save jobs

Administrators and teachers union officials in DuPage High School District 88 may reopen teacher contracts with an eye toward concessions that could save jobs in the face of a $3.2 million budget shortfall.

District officials and union representatives met Monday and will meet again next week. Both sides said talks are very preliminary.

"It has been very difficult for our members, but we've come to the table willing to talk and our talks have been candid," said Patty Vendegna, president of the District 88 teachers council. "But because we are in the process of talking, I think there is too much at stake here to say more."

Contracts do not expire until summer 2011 for teachers at Addison Trail and Willowbrook high schools. But the district announced in January that falling property tax revenues and weakened state funding will require roughly $3.2 million in budget reductions for the 2010-11 school year.

Ultimately, officials said, the reductions would require job and programming cuts unless they can figure out other ways to reduce expenses.

"A change in salary schedules would save money, but people expect something back when they make a sacrifice like that," Superintendent Steve Humphrey said. "But what can we give them that's non-monetary?"

Humphrey and Vendegna would not say if discussions are focusing on salary reductions, pay freezes or both. Humphrey said the district is limited in non-monetary compensation it can give teachers, such as furlough days or a shortened workday, since the school code mandates factors like how many days a year teachers must work and how long a minimum day must be.

"We do not have all the same options that might be available to a company in the private sector," he said. "But I think the mood is hopeful. We have a sense of community in District 88 and I think when you start looking at layoffs, and those people being gone, that will change the sense of community. So people are willing to have these talks."