Tentative Agreement Avoids Teachers Strike At D124 Schools

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Parents of students attending Evergreen Park ESD 124 schools can breathe a sigh of relief. Negotiating teams for the D124 board and teachers’ union announced late Wednesday that they had reached a tentative agreement for a new contract, averting a strike for the district’s 1,900 students.

Both sides remarked that significant strides had been made after last week’s negotiating session. The union’s negotiating team appeared cheerful as they entered the district administrative office in the late afternoon to cheers from their colleagues.

Contract negotiations between the school board and the teachers union had been ongoing since March. Details of the tentative agreement will be provided to members of the Evergreen Park Federation of Teachers 124 will review the contract before holding a vote for ratification.

“We are so glad to have reached the light at the end of the tunnel,” union co-president Liz Babiarz said in a written statement, an Evergreen Park resident and third grade teacher at Southwest Elementary School. “It was a long road, but I think we have a contract that is fair to our members and that helps us provide our students with the education they deserve. We’re very relieved that we’ve come to an agreement and can focus 100-percent on our students.”

More details are forthcoming, but D124 board president Kim Leonard also confirmed that a tentative agreement had been reached.

“The board is grateful that we were able to come to a tentative agreement following a lot of hard work by both sides,” Leonard said in a written statement from the district.

According to the union, the key issue that remained on the table until Wednesday was high teacher and staff turnover, which the union claimed was the result of the current low wages for teachers, paraprofessionals, and support staff in the district.

Barb Nelson, a community member and long-time aide at Southeast Elementary School, who gave D124 board members an earful during their meeting on Sept. 25, stated that she finally felt her services as an instructional aide is finally being recognized.

“It’s not an easy job, and we weren’t asking for much,” Nelson said. “Just a fair wage that reflects the value of the work we do for our students every day.”

EPFT 124 represents more than 200 teachers, paraprofessionals, and support staff at Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest elementary schools, and Central Middle School.