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…
Silence Dogood
2:38 pm on Friday, November 9, 2012
Gosh, Edward, I'm SO sorry, I wasn't assuming anything, I was inferring....but hey, if that's how you choose to see it, then we'll just have to agree to disagree, and I will reluctantly acknowledge you may be half right. more ›