Schools

Day One of D-300 Teacher Strike

LEAD 300 union hopes strike won't be long.

Teachers in District 300 will head to the picket lines instead of their classrooms as LEAD 300 union officials hope it will be a short strike.

“I feel we are pretty close,” said Mike Williamson, LEAD spokesman. “I’m not sure they feel the same way. We’d like them to come and meet with us and quickly resolve this. Hopefully we won’t be out long.”

Picket lines will be set up at the district’s high schools, including Jacobs High School in Algonquin and the district’s administrative offices in Carpentersville, he said.

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The outstanding issue is class size and compensation. There was some agreement on a size cap at the high school and middle school grades, but it was not close enough to get LEAD 300 members to ratify a contract, Williamson said.

No further bargaining sessions were scheduled as of late Monday.

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Williamson worked on the last teachers contract and both sides were able to resolve the issues to avoid a strike.

“This one didn’t seem to have an immediacy on the board’s part to avoid this,” he said. “It’s disheartening.”

“We are all very surprised, this whole process has been about them not moving and grudgingly making movements,” Williamson said, adding the district agreed Monday to one term that had been discussed months ago and could’ve been resolved sooner.

Meanwhile, District 300 has instituted its Emergency Attendance Centers for students who registered in advance to participate. The centers will be set up at Carpentersville Middle School, Dundee Middle School and Hampshire Middle School. Daycare would be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The village of Lake in the Hills also is offering daycare. The daycare will be available from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at village hall, 600 Harvest Gate, and the cost is $25 per day for LITH residents and $30 per day for non-residents for your first child. The second child will be $22.50 a day for residents and $27 for non-residents.

Those interested in LITH daycare can call 847-960-7460 for more information or to register. 


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