Elmhurst District 205 Teachers Begin New Year Without a New Contract

Contract negotiations between Elmhurst Unit District 205 and the Elmhurst Teachers Council have seemingly stalled, but all sides remain hopeful as teachers open the new school year with a long-expired contract.

Elmhurst teachers began the school year today, Thursday, under the terms of their current contract, which expired June 30. Negotiations have been ongoing since last October, and in March, both sides agreed that employing a was the best route toward expediting the process. In May 2010, the union was asked to lower its average salary increase by 1.1 percent in the final year of its current deal.

"They're still talking, that's always a positive," said Melea Smith, Director of Communications and Public Relations for District 205. Smith added it is not unusual for a school district to start the year without a teachers contract, and cited Rockford School District as an example.

Smith said the district is represented at the negotiating table by attorney Robb Cooper, as well as former School Board member Marta Davy. Assistant Superintendent for Finance Pat Masterton, who will retire in October, also represents the district.

Katy Padberg, president of the Elmhurst Teachers Council, declined to comment, other than to say negotiations are ongoing and both sides plan to meet again Aug. 23.

Superintendent Dave Pruneau, who began in his position July 1, is not directly involved in negotiations. Pruneau said he is "up to speed" however, and discusses negotiations with the Board of Education in closed session meetings.

"This has been going on for years," he said. "It doesn't serve anybody well to have the new person showing up not knowing that background."

Pruneau also said typically superintendents step aside when school districts appoint an attorney to negotiate on the district's behalf. This way, he said, parties don't "confuse" who the chief negotiator is.

Pruneau said new school years without new teacher contracts are now "the norm" in Michigan, where he has spent the bulk of his career and encountered similar situations "many times."

"It's not really what teachers are worth, it's what we can do to compensate our teachers fairly, and at the same time be responsible to the total economic future of the district, and with limited resources," he said.

And while no side—teachers, mediators nor administration—has indicated a desire to declare an impasse, which sparks a negotiations endgame that could lead to a strike, Pruneau said students must remain the top priority during negotiations.

"The important thing for us is to make sure kids aren’t going to be the ones that suffer in this," he said. "This is an issue between adults in difficult times, but kids only get one chance at their education."

One game-changer in negotiations was the passage of Senate Bill 7, which takes another look at the importance of teacher tenure, among other things, in Illinois.

Senate Bill 7 also changed the steps toward a teacher strike. District 205 and its teachers have already gone 15 days with a mediator. Now, either the district, teachers or the mediator can declare an impasse. If that happens, each side submits its final written offer to the other side, the mediator and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board (IELRB). If no agreement is reached then, the final offers are posted online for public viewing. Finally, if an agreement is not reached after 14 days of public viewing, the union has the option to file a notice of intent to strike 10 days before the strike.

Two school districts, Cary District 26 and downstate Illini Bluffs District 327, have posted final written offers with their respective teachers unions since the passage of Senate Bill 7, according to the IELRB web site.

Victor Blackwell, executive director of the IELRB, said "at least four" districts have made final written offers, to his knowledge. He added that federally appointed mediators are purely discussion facilitators and do not "intervene" or make judgments.

Blackwell also said that once a school district appoints a mediator, typically arbitration is not pursued.

"Usually you’re with one or the other," he said. "You’re not with the arbitrator if you’re with the mediator."

Despite the labor circumstances, York High School Principal Diana Smith, who is not a member of the teachers union, said she has seen the "most positive" start to a school year in "a long time" at District 205 this week.

"They are so focused on what is right for kids and best for kids that that’s really where their attention is right now," she said Wednesday. "I have not heard anything; I’m not saying they’re not talking about (the contract), and I really mean this, they are so focused today on getting ready for (Thursday) that I don’t see any distraction."

Smith said much of the positive vibe come from Pruneau, who received a standing ovation when he addressed York staff this week.

"The tone that was set with the new superintendent’s welcome, and really from the cabinet, the entire cabinet was here, was encouraging and supportive and really motivating," she said, referring to feedback she has received from staff. "So I would say it was the most positive start I'd seen in a long time."

And while a new contract has not been ratified, Pruneau is optimistic because all sides are still negotiating.

"Well, it's like everything else," he said. "You know, on some things they’re right together, some things are further apart, but you just try to work with those things and come up with an amicable agreement."