District 203 Board Approves Support Staff Contract

The Naperville Education Support Professionals Association has a new two-year contract for 2010-2012. The contract was approved during Tuesday night's Naperville School District 203 school board meeting.

Many hours were spent negotiating the contract, but the outcome was amenable to both parties, according to district and association members. The board approved the contract with one member voting against it and another not in attendance. Board member Dave Weeks said he supported the contract, but was concerned the NESPA was still working on the language, which prompted him to vote no.

The contract that was presented for approval was legally binding, even though some minor "wordsmithing" was still taking place, said Carol Hetman, the district's chief human resources officer.

During the contract's first year, base salaries for all staff will not increase, but there will be a salary step movement. In the second year, there will be a .50 percent increase in base salaries along with a step movement. 

During the meeting, Hetman explained that the cost to taxpayers would represent an increase of less than 2.4 percent for the life of the contract. That amounts to salary increases of about $230,000 over the two years, said Dave Zager, the district's chief financial officer.

"I believe we have negotiated some terms that would make sense for both the district and the association," Hetman said.

Other key points include:

• No maximum accumulation of sick leave.
• Flexibility in granting experience credit to new hires.
• Updated language on recategorization review committee.
• Early Childhood positions will be categorized similarly to K-5 categories.

The contract will be renewed for two years rather than one. A recategorizing of positions will mean five job categories will be adjusted, affecting 14 percent of the roughly 585 employees, according to the contract.

Cis Meyer, the association's president, said the eight members of the negotiating team spent about 86 hours per person working on the contract, but the hard work paid off.

"We are very pleased with the outcome," Meyer said after the meeting. "The experience on both sides was good for everyone at the table."