Springfield District 186, teachers' union see 'some progress' in marathon session Tuesday

Bargaining teams from School District 186 and the Springfield Education Association met for nearly 11 hours on Tuesday with some headway made on negotiations and a resolve to meet up next week.

It was the first time the two sides had met since Sept. 9.

Both sides had called for a federal mediator after talks broke off, but time and dwindling resources brought them back Tuesday.

A tentative three-year agreement was rejected by 80% of the voting membership on Aug. 9.

SEA president Aaron Graves noted there was "some progress" that the union attributed to "its members and their efforts."

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Graves owed that to the overall work of SEA members and particularly those who publicly commented at Monday's board of education meeting, touching on everything from workloads to school safety to lack of personnel.

One of them, Sarah Peterman, who teaches first grade at Fairview Elementary School, said teachers are getting more piled on them every year and the social and emotional needs of students aren't going away because school has reconvened in person.

"In the first 30 days (of the school year), my students have been hit, kicked, chased, evacuated from the classroom and subjected to verbal threats," she said in a public comment session Monday. "(Other staff members and I) have also been subject to these punches and threats. I personally have been scratched and knocked to the ground.

"And this is not solely the result of one troubled student."

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School board president Anthony Mares said the district has heard the teachers loud and clear.

"We understand what our teachers are saying. We understand what our staff are saying," Mares said after the session. "We've tried to respond to that by increasing the support services for staff and students (by) adding more security, adding the surveillance systems, added double entry (doors), providing more nurses, providing more counselors, providing social workers. We're trying to meet those (needs)."

Superintendent Jennifer Gill, after Monday's board meeting, said while the district wants to support teachers, it also has to maintain a balanced budget and make sure it is positioned to be in great financial shape.

"It is the great dichotomy," Gill said, "of any superintendent: what you want to do and what you can do with the funds you're given."

While Mares said a federal mediator isn't likely to surface in time for talks on either Oct. 12 or Oct. 13, Gill said she was fine with just the two sides meeting, even into next week.

Is there momentum heading into next week?

"I am always positive," Mares said. "I like to think we have great relationships with all of our collective bargaining units. We're going to continue to negotiate, listen to what the needs are, be able to look at what the circumstances are and address the concerns the teaching staff has and try to come up with a solution that's going to be equitable.

"I'm optimistic for a great outcome not only for our teachers, our staff, our administrators but most importantly making sure we're putting our students first and putting our best foot forward."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: No agreement yet between teachers' union, Springfield District 186