Woodland District 50 Board Approves Teachers Contracts

Press release from Woodland District 50: The Woodland District 50 Board of Education and the Woodland Federation of Teachers and Staff, Lake County Federation of Teachers, Local 504/IFT/AFT (WFTS) have agreed on a one year rollover to their current contract for the 2020-2021 school year. The contract was ratified by the WFTS on May 1, 2020. The Woodland Board of Education approved the ratification of the contract at the May 6, 2020 Governing Board meeting. The contractual agreement includes Woodland’s teaching and support staff made up of 740 members.

District officials and WFTS representatives formed a bargaining committee in the fall of 2019. The
process was a collaborative effort between two parties genuinely looking for an agreement that would benefit all. The negotiating process began with face-to-face meetings to address a number of issues that have changed or emerged since the last contract was approved. In March, discussions were moved to an on-line environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the crisis evolved and the scope of the impact on the Woodland educational community became clear, WFTS introduced the idea of a streamlined one-year rollover instead of continuing to pursue a multi-year agreement. The Board and Administration agreed that this modified approach would allow district teachers, staff and administrators to focus on transitioning to remote learning, and increasing student support during this public health crisis.

The contract extension allows Woodland to start next year with a contract in place, and demonstrates flexibility in order to maintain the district’s monetary health over the next year in uncertain financial times. The district is only beginning to understand how this public health crisis may impact school funding moving forward. Additionally, school districts in Illinois must gradually raise the teacher minimum salary to $40,000 by 2023-2023 by state law. Currently, the starting salary at Woodland is $34,220.

• The district will maintain its certified salary schedule for FY21. Raises include step plus a 0.1%
• increase and lane movement for coursework completed.
• Certified staff with longevity off of the salary schedule will receive a 3.25% increase.
• Board/Union non-contractual committees will be established to study multiple issues that were
• originally intended to be addressed in this round of bargaining but that will instead be
• addressed during next year’s new contract bargaining
• Staff performing extra duties will receive a 1% increase.
• Retirement and health insurance will remain the same.
• Non-certified staff will receive a 4.15% increase.

Middle School Science Teacher and WFTS President Sharon Anday stated, “Though our membership had hoped to address multiple other matters related to teaching and learning with this round of bargaining, including raising starting salaries from the current second-lowest in Lake County, circumstances quickly changed and it became clear that a simple rollover was in the best interests of our members, our students, their parents and the entire school community. We are grateful that the Board of Education agreed and worked with us in a spirit of grace and true collaboration.”

Woodland School Board President Dr. Carla Little explained, “We are extremely pleased to be starting next school year with a solid contract in place. The Board would like to thank the Union for emphasizing teamwork and flexibility despite all the events happening in our world today, and the uncertainty of the long-term economic forecast. Together, we built on the common ground that makes this a wonderful district. We believe that we must be good stewards of taxpayer resources, while also recognizing the important contributions of our dedicated staff members.”

The current agreement ends June 30, 2020. The new agreement extends through the June 30, 2021
school year.

This press release was produced by Woodland District 50. The views expressed here are the author's own.