Addison District 4, teachers union resume talks with mediator

Negotiators for Addison Elementary District 4 and its teachers union are set to meet twice this week with a federal mediator after making little headway in the last round of contract talks.

The two sides did not even broach the topic of teacher salaries and health benefits during mediation sessions last month. District officials hoped to present their first such offer through the mediator as early as Monday night.

The bargaining teams for the school board and the Addison Teachers Association also are scheduled to meet individually with the mediator at 6 p.m. Tuesday in separate rooms in a building that houses the district's offices and Indian Trail Junior High in Addison.

Teachers have been working under the terms of the most recent contract, a three-year deal that expired at the end of June. A union spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment Monday.

Bargaining on a new pact began in mid-March. The two sides agreed in August to ask a federal agency to assign a mediator to the talks. Two mediation sessions were held Sept. 19 and 22.

Ahead of the third session Monday, Superintendent John Langton said one sticking point involved contract language that would spell out the guidelines for an existing insurance advisory board.

"If we get through that, then we will be presenting salary and health benefits," he said.

A first-year teacher who has a bachelor's degree now makes $41,605. The district does not use a traditional salary schedule with so-called step increases based on teachers' length of service.

Langton acknowledged the "slow movement" of recent mediation sessions, but Langton said he hoped to make progress in the next two nights.

"I'm really hopeful that we can reach an agreement so that our community can move forward," he said.

The union represents more than 300 members in the district, where about 4,300 children are taught in an early learning center, seven elementary schools and one junior high.