Teachers Union: Hinsdale High Schools Will Start on Time

With less than a month before Hinsdale’s public high schools reconvene, the teachers’ union announced that the start of the 2014-2015 school year will begin on time regardless of recent contract negotiations between the association and Dist. 86 school board. 

Students’ first scheduled attendance day at Hinsdale Central and South is Aug. 22, the Hinsdale High School Teachers Association said Friday in a news advisory.

Faculty will attend all previously scheduled attendance day events, workshops, meetings and orientations prior to the start of the new school year.

The teachers’ association took a vote in May authorizing a work stoppage should teachers and the school board be unable to agree on a new teacher’s contract. Both sides have been negotiating with a federal mediator since then.

According to the teachers, a counter proposal to the board was made that “keeps the district competitive with other districts and increases the teachers’ share of healthcare costs.”

The association said Friday it is still waiting for a counter proposal from the school board.

“The overwhelming support teachers have received from the community informs us that our priorities are aligned with theirs,” teachers’ association president John Bowman said in a written statement. “Parents, students, and community members, alongside teachers, all agree that the district’s top priority must be providing a best-in-the-state education to the students without delay by the board’s radical proposals. 

"The start of the school year is important for our students and our teachers. Autumn is the heart of the college application process, the start for our award-winning clubs, music programs, plays, championship athletics and the first step in a year of academic pursuit for all students. Students deserve to start the year as scheduled, on time. 

"We eagerly await the board’s long delayed counter proposal to make a smooth beginning of everyone’s year. Now is not the time for their extreme political agenda to derail school.”