Meeting Highlights - May 12, 2014
Glenbrook High School District 225 and the Glenbrook Education Association
agree to new four-year contract
On Monday, May 12, the Glenbrook High School District 225 Board of Education approved a new four-year contract agreement with the Glenbrook Education Association (GEA).
"The Board and Association both believe that the agreement is fair to all stakeholders," said Board President Skip Shein. "It is important to balance our need to attract and retain quality teachers while remaining fiscally responsible, and this contract accomplishes both."
The four-year agreement is based upon a calculation that incorporates the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Base salary increases for teachers will be 1.4 percent for the first year of the contract, with a negotiated increase of 1.5 percent in years two, three and four. The overall average increase, including experience (commonly referred to as STEP), is projected to be 3.4 percent for the first year, and then 3.5 percent for the remaining years of the contract. The agreement between the Board and the GEA includes no changes in fringe benefits, including health and dental coverage, other than usual annual premium increases and negotiated plan design modifications.
"We were pleased to continue the decades long tradition of dialogue and collaboration that makes this District special," said GEA President Matt Whipple. "We believe the agreement will allow us to maintain and enrich the excellence of our shared community."
The district and the GEA had been discussing a potential contract extension since November 2013 and instead, decided on a new four-year contract that will take effect on May 19, 2014 and expire on June 30, 2018.
"This new contract offers the district financial predictability, and will help to ensure that the district is able to maintain its projected reserves," said Assistant Superintendent Hillarie Siena.
There are approximately 420 full and part-time employees represented by the GEA. The district employs a total of 849 certified and non-certified professionals including teachers, service professionals, paraprofessional, support staff, and administrators.
Board discusses new ChromeBook device for incoming freshmen
After analyzing several Chromebook device options, the Glenbrook High School District 225 administration presented a recommendation to the Board requiring incoming freshman to purchase a district-issued Lenovo Thinkpad Chromebook Yoga 11e as part of its ongoing one-to-one learning initiative.
"The 'Yoga' offers students a hybrid that is part-laptop and part-touch screen," said District Director of Instructional Technology Ryan Bretag. "It's also much more durable and has double the life expectancy of our current Chromebook device."
While the exact pricing is still being finalized, the device retails for $449. The annual cost for incoming freshmen families is expected to be similar to the $118 currently charged to sophomores, juniors and seniors in the second year of the program. The district will absorb associated device costs, such as insurance.
"Our goal was to select a device that is conducive to learning yet is cost effective for our families and not a long-term burden to taxpayers," said Superintendent Dr. Mike Riggle. "The Yoga meets those criteria while providing students an improved device to support the one-to-one learning environment."
In addition to the proposed device for freshmen, the Board discussed allowing current students utilizing the district-issued Samsung Chromebook the opportunity to keep those devices at the end of their two-year term.
The Board is expected to received final pricing and vote on the proposed business model within the next month.
Board to collect community input at special meeting - May 19
On Monday, May 19, the Board of Education will host a special meeting to listen to community input on the future enrollment initiative. Any community members who wish to speak will be granted five minutes to address the Board. For those who would rather provide input electronically, there is an online
input form available on the district website. The Board has reviewed all input received via the form since its launch in March, and will continue to do so for the duration of the initiative.
Please note, the meeting will begin at 7 p.m. (Not 6:30 p.m. as previously advertised.)
