Members of the Kewanee Education Association (KEA), the union representing Kewanee School District 229 teachers and staff, plan to “pack the meeting” of the Kewanee School Board Monday evening.
Bridget Shanahan, media relations director for the Illinois Education Association (IEA), announced this weekend that the KEA members and supporters would attend the school board meeting following “informational picketing” outside the district administrative offices on North Main Street. The school board meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
The KEA is affiliated with the IEA, a union representing teachers and support staff throughout Illinois.
The KEA’s most recent contract with District 229 expired Aug. 15. Teachers and staff have been working without a contract since then.
Shanahan reported that KEA President Ruth Kapacinskas plans to speak at the meeting and will “call on the district to make reaching a fair contract a priority and to make themselves available more often for mediation.”
The board has said the first available date for mediation is Aug. 28, according to Shanahan.
KEA members have maintained that teacher salary increases in the Kewanee district have not kept up with increases elsewhere in Illinois. They say Kewanee teacher salaries should be increased so that the district can compete for quality teachers, and retain the ones they have now.
