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Palatine D15 picks team to renegotiate teachers contract

Whenever the Palatine Township Elementary District 15 budget is discussed, certain board members reiterate time and again that targeting supplies, capital projects and one-time expenditures won't make a significant dent in projected deficit spending.

What matters most is finding a way to reduce salaries and benefits, they argue.

Now, the board is taking its first steps toward that possibility by appointing three members to meet with the Classroom Teachers' Council about renegotiating its contract, which expires next year.

“We hope to have a good dialogue and accomplish some things,” board President Tim Millar said. “Things do need to get done sooner or later.”

The board Wednesday unanimously appointed Millar, Rich Bokor and newly elected member Scott Herr to be representatives in the contract discussions.

In March, union President Lisa Nuss said the organization “is willing to respectfully meet” with Superintendent Scott Thompson and representatives of the board.

Millar and Herr have pointed to the teachers contract as the main contributor toward District 15's deficit spending, which is expected to top $5 million next year and grow from there.

Bokor, on the other hand, is a retired educator and considered more union-friendly, receiving campaign contributions from teachers unions when he ran four years ago.

“I think we all bring different strengths to the table,” Millar said. “I think we'll make a strong team.”

He pointed to Bokor's education background, Herr's financial expertise and his own experience in negotiating past contracts.

Before the representatives sit down with the union, the entire board will meet in closed session to discuss goals and parameters. Nuss has said the teachers council will bring at least two representatives to the table as determined by its executive board.

Meeting dates have yet to be set.

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