Grayslake District 46 staffers to get pay raises, end strike

Union and school officials in Grayslake Elementary District 46 have reached a tentative agreement to end a one-day strike.

Classes at the district's seven schools will resume Monday, as the district doesn't give students the day off for Veterans Day. No classes were held Friday because it was a scheduled day off for students.

The deal will give teachers and support staffers pay raises for this school year and the 2020-21 term, but details weren't released Friday.

The terms of the deal will be made public "in the coming weeks" after the unions representing the district's teachers and support staffers ratify the contract and after the school board votes on the deal, according to a statement issued Friday morning by district and union leaders.

"As always, we thank you for your continued support of our schools, students, teachers and staff," the statement read.

More than 300 teachers and about 180 support workers went on strike Thursday. They picketed along Route 83 near the district office.

Pay was the only issue dividing the school board from the employees, who are represented by the Grayslake Federation of Teachers and the Grayslake Federation of Paraprofessionals and School Related Personnel.

Teachers and support workers are two years into four-year contracts that expire in summer 2021. Under the terms of that deal, the board and unions agreed to hold off on determining the amount of pay raises for the contracts' final two years, leaving salary hikes for the current and next school years undetermined.

The decision to defer was made because the district's financial future was uncertain at the time, according to documents filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. The employees' unions say the district now is healthier financially and in a better position to give pay increases.