Oak Grove teachers, District 68 reach contract agreement

After starting the school year for the first time in memory without a contract, a new four-year agreement has been finalized with teachers in Oak Grove Elementary District 68.

The school board on Tuesday approved the agreement. Members of the Oak Grove Education Association, which covers about 90 teachers at the single-school district in Green Oaks, had already unanimously approved the pact.

The 53-page agreement is retroactive to Aug. 18. It provides for salary increases, which includes steps for experience, of 2½ percent in each of the first two years.

The increase for the final two years can range from 2½ percent to 3½ percent based on the Consumer Price Index. There will be no increase in added pay for extracurricular sports and clubs during the agreement, which runs until August 2015.

Also, there will be no change in medical benefit levels for the first two years. Teachers could pay 5 percent more in each of the third and fourth years depending on what plan is chosen, although the district will provided a one-time $1,000 incentive for teachers to move to a medical plan with a lower premium.

“We felt it was fair,” said Kathleen Mackinnon, a 26-year veteran teacher in the district and chief negotiator for the union. “It’s a big relief to have it done.”

Talks began last April and both sides requested a federal mediator in July. Talks reached an impasse in mid-October and teachers began informational picketing at the school and strictly adhered to the 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. work day.

That prompted a response from the school board to parents saying that average double-digit salary increases of the past were inconsistent with the economic times. Teachers disputed the figures.

“It was a tough process. We had a great amount of community support for the teachers,” Mackinnon said.

Superintendent Janet Matthews agreed times have changed.

“That was absolutely what was different — the economy. The board’s objective was to provide a contract that was fair but was reflective of what the community was experiencing in their jobs.”

Salaries and benefits amount to about 50 percent of expenses, Matthews said. The new pact will cost the district about $185,000. Individual salaries for 2012-13 range from $37,127 to $87,007.

According to the district, the agreement also incorporates language from a recently passed bill in which teacher evaluation is considered before seniority in teacher transfers or layoffs, known as reductions in force.

The contract also includes a no strike/no lockout clause that states teachers will not strike or walk out, and the district will not lock them out.