Geneva teachers, schools still in mediation

It would appear not much progress has been made in contract negotiations between the Geneva Education Association and the Geneva school district.

The two sides are using a federal mediator to work out differences but won’t meet with the mediator again until Sept. 25.

At issue are compensation, benefits, services to be made available for special-education students, and involuntary transfers.

Neither union president Carol Young nor Assistant Superintendent Craign Collins, District 304’s personnel chief, would provide details of the mediation Friday. Both cited a confidentiality agreement they had signed before negotiations began, promising not to discuss details of the contract until an agreement on the contract has been reached.

Neither side has declared an impasse, and the teachers union has not filed a strike notice.

If an impasse is declared, then both sides’ final offers would be published on the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board’s website, www2.illinois.gov/elrb/Pages/default.aspx. They could then ask for arbitration to resolve the contract.