MENDOLA, Illinois - There is no school today for about 1,100 students that attend the Mendota, Illinois School District 289. That after the Mendota Education Association declared a strike after negations stalled with the Board of Education Tuesday night.
KWQC TV6 reports there are items on the bargaining table that need to be resolved.
Several of those issues include salary. The Board of Education and the Union are about $16,000 apart. That is less than a quarter of a percent of the overall budget.
The Board of Education wants to raise the cost of family health care insurance. That would offset the cost of any raises given to the teachers.
The Union is also asking to guarantee elementary teachers be allowed plan time so they are not using unpaid work hours or their own personal time for school preparation. The Union says by not providing plan time, teachers have less time to prepare for individual student needs and to communicate with parents.
The Union released this statement: "MEA is made up of 76 elementary members and 39 high school teachers from School District 280. Only the elementary teachers from District 289 are on strike. Their contract expired on Aug. 14, and they’ve been negotiating with the D289 BOE since March. District 289 serves 1,170 students and has three schools that are all closed today.
With that, the MEA released a statement that they are willing and able to bargain and is hopeful the board will agree to meet soon.
Photo courtesy of KWQC TV6.