Members of the Kewanee Education Association voted Sunday night to accept the Kewanee School Board’s contract offer.
The union, which represents more than 200 of the district’s teachers and support staff, has worked without a contract since their previous contract expired Aug. 15.
The contract won’t take effect until the school board votes to approve it. That vote is on the agenda for the board’s November meeting, which is Monday evening.
KEA President Ruth Kapacinskas released this statement late Sunday:
“Tonight the members of Kewanee Education Association voted to approve our new contract. We believe this contract is a step in the right direction, but there is much more work to be done to make Kewanee a place that attracts talented education support staff and teachers and retains the experienced staff members we have.”
“We are looking forward to continuing to work towards truly making Kewanee a destination district where educators can spend their careers,” the statement continued. “Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions and we won’t stop until we get that right.”
The statement concluded, “We are incredibly grateful to the Kewanee community who rallied around us. We are humbled by the tremendous outpouring of support. Thank you for standing by us during this time. We look forward to continuing to work together to make sure all our students receive the high-quality public education they deserve.”
The union’s negotiating committee and school board representatives met several times with a federal mediator since the previous contract expired.
The school board’s “last, best and final” offer was announced in late October. It included salary increases for teachers over the next three years ranging from 14.7 percent to 24.27 percent, depending on their years of experience.
KEA members conducted “informational” picketing several times during the contract impasse, and attended school board meetings where teachers addressed the board urging them to offer significant increases in salaries. Other citizens, including Mayor Gary Moore and City Manager Gary Bradley, also addressed the board urging them to reach a settlement with the KEA.
