U-46 board approves 4-year teachers' contract with 3.85% average raises

The Elgin Area School District U-46 school board Monday night unanimously approved a four-year teachers' contract granting a 3.85% increase on average over its duration - amounting to roughly $30.5 million total.

It took nine months and 50 negotiation sessions to reach an agreement, which runs from 2018 through August of 2022, said Suzanne Johnson, U-46 deputy superintendent of instruction.

Average yearly increases - including step and lane for years of experience and education - are 4.95% in 2018-19, 3.80% in 2019-20, 3.66% in 2020-21, and 2.99% in 2021-22.

Employees' share of health insurance premium costs will increase gradually from 12% in 2019-20 to 15% in 2020-21 effective Jan. 1 of each year.

Teachers will receive back pay for this school year's salary increase retroactive to the start of classes in August.

Substantial changes in the contract include more opportunities for teachers to earn professional credits and a greater emphasis on improving teacher safety and student discipline.

Officials outlined how district administration aims to support teachers better in situations of student discipline and identify students with social-emotional needs.

The district also aims to provide standardized threat assessment tools for schools to address students who pose a threat to themselves or others, evaluate those threat assessments, create student-specific safety plans, and involve parents and guardians where necessary, Johnson said.

The contract includes changes to policies affecting student exclusions from class, the creation of a safety council which will meet quarterly to work on issues, and a tactical assessment team to provide greater support to teachers in threatening situations.

Other significant changes are increasing the numbr of required parent-teacher conferences to five hours across all sites, providing more time for teacher collaboration, and adequate training on using new technologies.

The Elgin Teachers Association's Representative Assembly last week voted 1,764 to 336 to accept the contract. The district's more than 2,500 teachers had been working without a contract since the previous one-year extension expired last Aug. 10.

Former school board member Jeanette Ward asked newly seated school board members Eva Porter and Kathleen Thommes to recuse themselves from voting on the contract since they weren't part of the negotiations process.

Porter and Thommes felt otherwise and said they support the hard work of the negotiating team to reach this agreement.

Ward also objected to "significant" yearly raises, even if teachers perform unsatisfactorily, and health insurance premium costs not being in line with the private sector where employees' share is 25 percent. The contract also includes lump sum payments after retirement up to $10,000, she added.

School board President Sue Kerr said the salary increases make U-46 more "competitive in attracting teachers" and this contract begins to address the issues of safety and disruptions in the classroom.

"This is a positive step that will allow teachers to focus on their primary job, which is educating kids," she said.