Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Teachers union vote garners three-fifths majority it needed for ratification. The School Board votes next.
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Residents, educators and School Board members breathed a sigh and smiled Wednesday, when the Kane County Chronicle and Daily Herald posted a note that the Geneva Education Association voted Wednesday to ratify the tentative contract agreed upon in the wee hours of Monday morning. The reports said more than a two-thirds majority of the GEA members voted to ratify the agreement. The Board of Education and the GEA struck a confidentiality agreement that said details of the new three-year contract would not be made public until it was ratified by both parties. School Board President Mark Grosso said after Monday's meeting that District 304 would call a special meeting for that purpose, most likely Monday or Tuesday. The GEA vote almost …
Friday, November 9, 2012
The Geneva Education Association says Geneva teachers will go on strike Monday.
A Geneva Education Association press release says a teachers strike will happen Monday. Geneva Education Association President Carol Young says Thursday's 10-hour negotiating session was productive but did not result in an agreement. Young said the GEA offered to meet over the weekend, but the School Board task force said Tuesday would be the soonest that talks could resume. The board has a meeting scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday. A press release from School District 304 is expected later this morning. Geneva Patch will update this post when additional information is available. Here's the GEA press release: The following statement may be attributed to Carol Young, president of the Geneva Education Association (GEA). “The GEA negotiation …
School Board President Mark Grosso said Friday morning that no deal had been reached during Thursday night's negotiations between the School Board and the Geneva Education Association.
Geneva School Board President Mark Grosso said at 7:30 a.m. Friday that last night's teachers contract negotiations went past 11 p.m. but no settlement. Grosso said he expected a press release would be distributed later this morning but could make no further comment. "We have not reached a tentative agreement," he said. The Geneva Education Association filed its notice of intent to strike on Oct. 26, and a walkout could take place as soon as today. Information about negotiations and the potential strike will be communicated through emails to families, District 304’s emergency notification system, 304Connects, local media and the School Board’s negotiations webpage. Geneva Patch will update this article as soon as additional information is …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
An eight-hour negotiating session doesn't come up with a tentative contract agreement, but both sides will meet again in hopes of an 11th-hour settlement prior to a possible Nov. 9 teachers strike.
For Genevans hoping and praying for a settlement prior to a Friday teachers-strike deadline, the initial news from Tuesday's negotiating session was mixed and a little sketchy. School District 304 issued a press release and sent an email via 304 Connects informing the community that the Board of Education and the Geneva Education Association continued negotiations Tuesday evening with the help of a federal mediator. "Proposals were exchanged, and both parties agreed to meet again on Thursday, Nov. 8," the release said. As of 10:50 a.m. Tuesday, the GEA had not issued a press release regarding the issue or posted one on its website, gea4students.com. Following the Oct. 26 negotiations session, the School Board and GEA released details and …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
School Board president calls the tactic “particularly troubling." Geneva Education Association president calls the board's account of the negotiations "disturbing." Negotiations continue Nov. 6.
Geneva School Board President Mark Grosso said in a District 304 press release Tuesday that the Geneva teachers union was filing for a strike five hours before talks ended Friday. The Geneva Education Association countered with its own press release Tuesday evening, posted on the gea4students website, calling the School Board's accusations "disturbing" and saying it had to file at that time to make a 4:30 p.m. deadline with the Kane County Regional Office of Education and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board. Both sides said they made dramatic movement from their posted final offers and acknowledged that a settlement appeared to be in reach during the 12-hour Friday bargaining session. “What is particularly troubling is that, …
Friday, October 26, 2012
After a day-long negotiating session, the School Board and GEA get closer to resolution but salaries remain the sticking point.
Geneva School Board President Mark Grosso delivered the sad news in a brief telephone conversation around 10:30 p.m. Friday, after a long day of negotiations with the Geneva Education Association. "Despite progress on several of the issues, the GEA has given notice of its intent to strike," Grosso said. The soonest date that a strike could take place is Nov. 9. The next mediation session has tentatively been set for Tuesday, Nov. 6. Grosso said he felt the negotiations made tremendous progress and both sides were close to agreement on many of the major points outlined in the final offers posted by the School Board and the GEA—with one important exception. "Salary is the issue, I can tell you that," Grosso said. The board and the union have…
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Mark Grosso also explains that teachers would receive a minimum of 3.65 percent salary increase in each of the first two years of the teachers union proposal.
Before contract negotiations resumed at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, at Geneva Middle School North, School Board President Mark Grosso explained some of the details of "step" and "lane" salary increases as well as the Geneva teachers union's "final offer" proposal to increase teacher salaries in each of the three year prior to retirement. "The two (big issues) I see are salaries, of course, and retirement," Grosso said in a brief phone interview. Under the present contract, teachers who choose not to take early retirement receive a 6 percent raise in their final year of service. The Geneva Education Association is asking to increase that to 6 percent the first year, while the second- and third-year increase would be "based on the previous year…
Friday, October 12, 2012
News comes as a surprise to School District, because the School Board and Geneva Education Association had agreed to a mediation session on Oct. 23.
Geneva School District 304 School Board members were surprised today when they learned through the Illiinois Education Association that contract negotiations through a federal mediator were declared at an impasse. A Geneva School District 304 e-blast written by School Superintendent Kent Mutchler said district officials were taken off guard in part because, "following the most recent meeting on Oct. 5, both parties agreed to another mediation session on Oct. 23." "The fact that the teacher’s union has declared impasse suggests that they have concluded that nothing can be gained by future negotiations," Mutchler said. "It is disheartening to the members of the Board of Education that the GEA has chosen this route, as the Board of Education …
DJP
9:27 pm on Sunday, November 11, 2012
The announcement will be made @ 5AM Monday. more ›