District 67 OKs New Teacher Contract

A five-year contract between the Lake Forest School District 67 board of education and Lake Forest Education Foundation was approved last week, just as the previous one expired.

According to a District news release, “the new contract was designed to attract, retain, and recognize high quality staff members while maintaining the district’s financial health and remaining fiscally responsible to the community.”

The newly ratified contract calls for an average projected increase in salaries for teachers and teacher assistants of 5.54% (2015-16), 5.24% (2016-17), 3.75% (2017-18), 3.57% (2018-19), and 3.68% (2019-20). The new contract falls within the District’s 5-year financial parameters, according to the release.

“The School Board, administration, and LFEA negotiating teams worked hard to craft an agreement that supports our teachers with salary increases within the budget parameters,” said Mike Borkowski, board of education president. “This new 5-year agreement gives us the opportunity to advance our shared educational goals which we recently defined in the District’s Vision and Mission statements while ensuring the district’s financial health.”