Oct. 16--Dozens of Woodland School District 50 teachers and staff members rallied outside the Gurnee district's offices before a meeting between union officials, school board members and a mediator Thursday evening.
The session came a day after the latest contract offers were posted for public viewing on the Illinois Educational Labor Relations board website. Woodland Council leaders and school board members have been working to settle on a new contract since January but haven't managed to close the gap on salary or health benefits, according to the proposals.
According to the school board, its contract offer would carry a nearly $5.5 million increase in salary and benefits over the course of the five-year proposal, while the union estimated its proposal's cost at about $7.9 million.
Woodland Council president and eighth grade teacher Sharon Anday characterized the pay increases the union is asking for as "modest" in comparison with the "huge adjustment" the district has proposed to health benefits.
The Woodland Council is asking for an average annual raise of 5.45 percent for certified staff, with each year's raise between 5 and 6 percent, said Illinois Federation of Teachers spokesman Kenzo Shibata. Teachers with more than 16 years of experience would average yearly raises of 3.15 percent while support staff would average 5.21 percent per year.
But the school board wants to move away from guaranteed annual percentage salary increases, instead tying raises to the inflation rate. The school board's proposal calls for annual salary increases between 2 and 3 percent for support staff and teachers earning less than $78,000 per year, and capped at 2 percent for teachers earning more.
Uncertain state funding, caps on property tax increases and fears the state could shift teacher pension obligations to school districts mean the district needs to focus on "living within our financial needs," the school board said in its proposal.
But Anday claims they could cover the salary increases the union is asking for without jeopardizing the district's financial health, saying the district ends each year with between $32 and $41 million in fund balances.
District spokeswoman Jennifer Tempest Bova said it's not as though the district is simply stockpiling those dollars. The $41 million the district has on hand currently is one of two annual tax payments that was recently received and is budgeted to be spent this year, she said. The school board has a policy aiming to end each year with enough cash on hand to cover at least a quarter of the annual expenses in each district fund, but recently hasn't been able to keep that percentage in its education fund, Tempest Bova said.
Anday said district employees are also worried about the school board's proposed health benefits. According to union officials, the school board's proposed salary schedule and health benefits would leave many union members making less combined salary and benefits in the contract's second year than they have in prior years.
"We are seriously worried about teachers moving to other districts," Anday said.
The school board is proposing to reduce the share of insurance premiums the district covers by 5 to 17.5 percent, depending on the plan, starting in the 2016-17 school year. The board also wants to swap a low-deductible health care plan it says would run afoul of an Affordable Care Act provision with tax penalties for plans with premiums over $10,200 for an individual or $27,500 for a family.
Based on the number of employees currently enrolled in that plan, the district would face $400,000 in penalties, Tempest Bova said.
The union is asking the district to leave current insurance benefits unchanged while agreeing to pick up 77.5 percent of family dental benefit premiums. Currently, the district pays all dental premiums for single employees and no family dental benefits.
Also at issue are nonfinancial policies, including the board's push for the authority to set arrival and dismissal times for staff and students and require frequent online grading updates and more parent teacher conference time.
In its proposal, union officials said they support requiring online grades once the district can support the system and provides training for teachers, but not requiring midterm grades or progress reports. Teachers and support staff are also seeking limits on class sizes, protections for planning and curriculum development time and "streamlining" teacher evaluations, according to a statement from the union.
The Woodland Council represents about 780 teachers and support staff in District 50, who last went on strike in 2003.
Anday said she's disappointed there's been "not a lot of movement" in the school board's proposal since negotiations began in January, but was hopeful an agreement would be reached Thursday night.
District officials declined to comment on specific aspects of the union's proposal, citing ongoing negotiations.
"The Board and the Union will continue to negotiate in good faith under the guidance of the federal mediator, with the goal to reach an agreement on a new contract which recognizes the excellent work performed by our staff, protects the district's fiscal viability over the length of the agreement and supports student learning and achievement," board President Chris Schrantz said in a statement Wednesday.
lzumbach@tribpub.com
