Months after returning to the bargaining table, River Forest School District 90 and the River Forest Education Association have come to terms on a new tentative four-year teacher contract agreement.
The agreement, struck Friday, must now be ratified by RFEA membership and approved by the District 90 board of education. According to RFEA co-president Cindy Crannell, a paper vote by its membership is likely to take place March 5, adding a simple majority is required to ratify the agreement. From there, the District 90 board of education is required to vote on it.
By mutual agreement, terms of the new agreement were not disclosed. However, Crannell said Monday she was confident in bringing it to RFEA’s 145-person membership.
“I’m confident this will pass,” Crannell said. “I feel like it is a really good deal and it’s one of the best contracts in the 10 years I’ve worked here.”
Added District 90 superintendent Dr. Edward Condon, “Reaching the updated agreement after 10 months of negotiation was a welcome milestone. We are hopeful that the new tentative agreement will receive sufficient votes from the RFEA membership to pass.”
The new tentative agreement was the result of a “sidebar” negotiation session held Thursday with the mediator present. A sidebar negotiation session involves a small group from the full negotiation teams and is used to explore possible compromises ahead of a formal proposal or response.
Crannell said there were six key areas that still needed to be addressed after the Nov. 10 tentative agreement was voted down in early December by RFEA membership.
“We made improvements in all of those areas,” she said. “That was important for us to do that work at the table with the district. Shifting money around isn’t improvement to the tentative agreement; we had had to put more money in the tentative agreement so it would pass.”
After nearly a year of negotiations, which at times created friction within the River Forest community, some teachers may have fielded offers from other nearby districts or may be considering moving. Crannell said there are many reasons to stay.
“Me personally, I really love the people I work with,” she said. “It’s a second family for me. I feel the families in this district really support the teachers. It really took me by surprise how many parents stood up. There were lots of parents and students and they were also surprised by our pay being not really comparable to districts in the area.
“D90 is a smaller district, which I personally like, I love the people I work with, the families are amazing. I do know that the community has our back,” she said.
With a score of 85.36, Lincoln Elementary School earned Exemplary status for the third year in a row according to the Illinois Report Card released last year by the Illinois State Board of Education. Willard Elementary School (86.17) was declared Exemplary for the fourth straight year. Those are schools that rank in the top 10% of the state. The next 67% are considered Commendable, which is what Roosevelt Middle School earned.
“In D90 we have worked for many years to ensure that we compensate employees as competitively as possible – especially amongst elementary school districts,” Condon said. “The terms of the new tentative agreement reflect our continued commitment to compensating our teachers well. At the same time, we strive to provide beneficial working conditions, high-quality professional development, autonomy in decision making, substantial teacher and instructional resources, supportive and experienced administrative leadership, safe and secure school facilities, and critical supports that allow teachers to be their professional best.
“Our teachers also have the opportunity to teach truly amazing students and partner daily with engaged and supportive families. Though these additional elements should not be conflated with the importance of competitive pay, they are noteworthy and significant.”
