D124 Board Requests Mediator for Next Round of Teacher Contract Talks

Evergreen Park, IL, June 2, 2016 -- The clock is running down on teachers' current contract at Evergreen Park's public elementary schools, which is set to expire on June 30.

The Dist. 124 school board sent a letter home with students on their last day of school Tuesday, informing parents that the board and Evergreen Park Federation of Teachers Local 943 had reached “tentative” agreements on 80 percent of the proposals on the table

“Only a few, but more challenging, issues are now left to resolve,” the Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124 board said in its written statement.

The letter, dated May 31, was posted on the district’s website. Dist. 124 includes four K-5 elementary schools and a middle school for grades 6-8.

A new collective bargaining unit would go into effect July 1. To help resolve the remaining “challenging issues” the school board has requested a “neutral mediator” to be present at the next bargaining session set for June 21.

The teachers union has not yet responded to Patch’s questions regarding the state of the negotiations.

Unlike 2012, when the district’s teachers walked the picket line for ten days, negotiations started early in January, to give both sides six months to hammer out an agreement.

To maintain, in the D124 school board’s words, a “positive working relationship,” new approaches to negotiations were implemented, including smaller group discussions and a near weekly meeting schedule.

None of the leadership participating in the current contract talks were involved in the 2012 negotiations.

Dist. 124 Superintendent Dr. Robert Machak said both sides are making every effort to have a contract in place “well in advance of the 2016-17 school years.”

“The Board of Education has updated the parents and taxpayers in our community regarding the status of these negotiations, as is its right as well as its responsibility,” Machak said.”The Board was transparent in sharing this update with parents, staff, and the community [in its May 31 statement].”

Machak would not comment on the issues holding up contract talks to the point that school board members have called for an mediator, which they believe will enable both sides to reach agreement more quickly on the remaining issues.

However, in the letter to parents sent home on the last day of school, the school board stated: "One of the Action Statements in the Financial Health goal area is to negotiate compensation levels that attract, maintain and reward quality staff within the goals of fiscal stability."

The teachers union has not made any public statements regarding contract negotiations nor to the school board's request for a mediator.

In 2012, the sticking points in collective bargaining talks were teachers’ health benefits and salary increases.

According to a Chicago Tribune report, the average salary for Dist. 124 teachers in 2014 was $58,279.

Machak also touted the district’s accomplishments during past school year, including the successful transition of Central from a junior high school for seventh and eighth grade students to a middle school, incorporating sixth grade students.

The district also claims to have improved district-wide math and reading assessment scores by almost 3 percent. Other accomplishments, including more opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in field trips and technology, free English classes for non-English speaking parents at Moraine Valley Community College, an expanded technology program and less student trips to the principal’s office accounted for what Machak termed a great year.

“All of these items are elements of our long-range strategic plan. So is the contract,” he stated. “The community should be confident that we are all committed to finalizing a contract so that together we can focus all of our efforts on teaching and learning as we prepare for a new school year.”

Meanwhile, all eyes will be focused on the closed door June 21, behind which the next round of collective bargaining talks will take place.