McHenry District 156 school board, union reach tentative agreement on contract

Teachers and board members clashed over pay and insurance contributions and failed to reach an agreement by October. 1, leading to the teachers’ strike.

“We’re ready to go”, Dunn said Saturday.

Teachers and school board members in McHenry School District 156 reached a tentative agreement early Saturday to end a seven-day teachers’ strike. “The biggest sticking point is that salary schedule, and we want that changed”.

School board President Steve Bellmore says he appreciates the long hours put in by negotiators on both sides.

The union’s offer included a 1.36 percent increase to the base salary each year of a proposed two-year contract, in addition to yearly step increases, which district officials have said equate to an average of 3.63 percent. Administrators plan to meet with student leadership groups as soon as school resumes so that they can provide input on revisions to the school calendar and rescheduling missed activities.

The union will vote on the agreement Monday.

Homecoming events scheduled for this weekend had been called off as well, though the homecoming dance will be rescheduled, the school district said on its website.