Rally Planned Monday To Support Valley View Teachers' Contract

ROMEOVILLE, IL — A rally will be held for Valley View School District staff before Monday's Board of Education meeting to support their negotiations for a new contract.

Valley View Council, which is the union for Valley View teachers, is currently in contract negotiations with the District.

On Monday, the District released a statement from Superintendent Keith Wood on the ongoing negotiations, stating that it has had a "long and beneficial relationship" with the union which represents a large portion of Valley View teachers, paraprofessionals, maintenance, nursing staff, security and many others.

Monday's agenda does not appear to show any action items for a new contract. However, it does list that Valley View Council will give a report, which usually occurs most Board meetings.

According to District documents, the District and the Valley View Council of Local 604 American Foundation of Teachers last agreed on a contract that spanned three school years (from 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25).

The District said negotiations for the contract began in January.

"We have made significant progress on reaching a new agreement and signed 40 tentative agreements to that effect, to the credit of both parties working hard to find mutual ground that will benefit our students, our staff, and our community," Wood's statement reads. "In addition to regular negotiation sessions, the parties met with an Illinois Education Labor Relations Board mediator to come to a reasonable resolution. Despite progress earlier in the process, a final agreement has not been reached."

The 2025-26 school year started last week, so teachers have been working without a contract.

Wood said that the Local 604 reviewed the last contract offer on July 14, and declared "impasse" on the negotiations. This left negotiations at a standstill, and further sessions have been scheduled.

" While we believe in this process and do not wish to negotiate in public, in light of the new school year and the expiration of our contract, we feel we owe our community transparency on the status of negotiations," Wood said. The statement details some items that were offered on the last contract offer, including:

• Wage increases of 4.25 percent, 5 percent and 4 percent over three years
• 20 additional minutes added for high school teachers' contract time starting in the second year of the agreement
• A new insurance plan that "essentially keeps the same coverage but saves money to be directed to the employees."
• A new sick time accumulation plan
• A change to the pay schedule for maintenance leads

"We look forward to resuming negotiations to present a fair and beneficial agreement," Wood said.

The District's administrators are not represented by the Valley View Council; those contracts are agreed upon separately. The District also has current contracts in place for nutrition services, office personnel, and transportation, according to District documents.

The full statement on negotiations can be found on the District website.