DeKALB -- Classes in DeKalb School District 428 will start the school year as scheduled next week, after the school board voted 5-2 Saturday to approve a new new three-year contract with the teachers' union.
The vote took place at a special 8 a.m. meeting held at the school district's Education Center. School board members spent more than an hour in closed session discussing the deal, before voting in open session to approve it.
"I think it's a very fair contract for the district and the DCTA (DeKalb Classroom Teachers' Association)," said Victoria Newport, school board president of the Dist. 428 school board.
Representatives from DCTA, the union that represents 430 school district teachers and professionals, could not be immediately reached Saturday morning for comment.
The union had filed an intent to strike notice Aug. 12, mostly a procedural move, union officials said when the notice was hand-delivered to the school board. But Saturday's approval means teachers will head to classrooms, starting Monday for institute days, instead of the picket line.
Teachers get pay increases of 1.1 percent the first year of the contract and 2.12 percent in each remaining year of the three-year deal. The district also will continue to cover 95 percent of single employees' health insurance costs and 50 percent of costs for a plan with dependents. Teachers will continue to receive pension-boosting 6 percent raises in each of the final four years of working before retirement.
The length of teachers' workday also will be extended by 10 minutes, with teachers required to arrive 5 minutes before the school day begins and stay 5 minutes after it ends. The contract does not call for a cap on the number of students per class that teachers wanted, according to terms of the contract.
The two "no" votes on the contract came from school board members Howard Solomon and Kerry Mellott. The pair objected to several specific terms in the agreement, especially one where retiring teachers will continue to get a special raise in their last four years with the school district.
"I'm glad it passed, but at the same time I can't fully support some of the terms of the contract," Mellott said.
He added that the raise at retirement "sends the wrong message" considering the state's and school district's fiscal situations.
Students in District 428 schools head back to class Wednesday.