Addison District 4, teachers union reach tentative deal

Addison Elementary District 4 and its teachers union reached a tentative contract agreement after a marathon bargaining session that ended early Tuesday morning.

The proposed three-year pact would give teachers salary increases of 5 percent in the first year and 4.5 percent in each of the next two years.

The district also would pay 88 percent of the single health coverage premium and 55 percent of the family health coverage premium, Superintendent John Langton said in an email released just before 1:30 a.m.

If ratified by the union and approved by the school board, the agreement would replace a three-year contract that expired at the end of June and end nearly eight months of bargaining.

The voting has not been scheduled, according to a statement on the district's website.

The agreement comes after the two sides released "final" contract offers that showed large divisions over proposed teacher pay.

The union previously sought 2 percent annual baseline salary increases over the next three years in addition to "longevity" increases that would boost the total raises for teachers with five to 24 years' experience to roughly 6.5 percent in the first year and 6 percent in each of the next two.

Under the school board's contract proposal released last week, the district would provide raises for all teachers totaling 4 percent in the first year and 3.5 percent in each of the next two years.

First-year teachers who have a bachelor's degree currently receive a starting salary of $41,605.

The two sides met 11 times before the school board requested in August that bargaining teams make a joint request for a federal mediator.

After several mediation sessions, the school board declared an impasse in talks on Oct. 27.

Janelle Bledsoe, the Addison Teachers Association's negotiation co-chairwoman, did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.