Published: September 30, 2008 11:56 am         

Altamont teachers, board OK new contract

ALTAMONT — Altamont teachers no longer have to juggle their educational responsibilities with union negotiations.

The Unit 10 Board of Education voted Monday to approve a new contract, several hours after members of the Altamont Education Association ratified the new pact in an after-school meeting at Altamont Grade School.

The three-year deal features annual pay raises of 3 1/4 percent the first two years and 3 1/2 percent the third year. Employee health insurance premiums will increase by $10 per month each of the next two years and $15 per month in the third year.

Perhaps more importantly from the teachers’ perspective, junior high and high school students will revert to a traditional Block 8 scheduling for the last two years of the contract. The present modified block system will be used this school year.

That means teachers will regain a prep period of 84 minutes, twice the time allotted under the modified block system. Board President Dale Laue said the board agreed to compromise on the scheduling issue in an effort to settle.

“We wanted to maintain the modified block, but we saw that would impede the progress of negotiations, so we compromised,” Laue said.

Biology teacher Mike Delaney, lead negotiator for the teachers’ group, said he’s just glad the process is over.

“We’re anxious to put this behind us and concentrate solely on education instead of all this peripheral stuff,” Delaney said.

Delaney declined to provide specifics on the teachers’ vote. The board voted 5-0 to approve the contract. Members Anna Mayhaus and Gary Goldstein were absent.

The new contract expires Aug. 15, 2011. Altamont teachers had been working without a contract for about six weeks. Negotiations began in mid-January.

Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 131 or bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com.