Addison District 4, teachers continue mediation sessions

Addison Elementary District 4 and its teachers union remain locked in contract talks, with negotiators planning to meet again Thursday night with a federal mediator.

The session marks the fifth time the two sides have met with the mediator.

The district presented its first offer on teacher salaries and benefits through the mediator earlier this month.

The district's bargaining team hopes to receive a counterproposal from the Addison Teachers Association or at least continue discussions on teacher pay during the session scheduled for 6 p.m., Superintendent John Langton said.

The two sides will meet in different rooms with the mediator 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 pact that expired at the end of June.

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.

Negotiations on a new contract started in mid-March.

After making little progress over the summer, the district and union agreed in August to request a federal agency assign a mediator to the talks.

The four previous mediation sessions were held in September and the first week of October.

A union spokeswoman was not immediately available Monday afternoon. The association represents more than 300 members in the district, where about 4,300 children attend classes in an early learning center, seven elementary schools and one junior high.