Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 teachers strike averted, agreement reached

PALATINE, Ill. (WLS) -- A potential teachers strike in the state's largest high school district was averted Monday afternoon.

Officials from the Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 announced at 3 p.m. that the Board of Education and Teacher's Union Local 1211 had reached a contract agreement.

School will open as normally scheduled on Tuesday, officials said.

Final exams, which are scheduled to begin Wednesday, will also proceed as normal.

Negotiations were ongoing over the weekend as they sought to avert the strike.

The teachers' union had said that base salary increases were the main sticking point in contract negotiations. About 890 teachers, psychologists, socials workers and counselors at five high schools in the school district threatened to walk off the job after negotiating for over a year.

While the board said it offered a more than 20 percent increase, with teachers at the top of the salary schedule, earning more than $138,000 for a single school year, both sides will not discuss the specific details of the deal reached.

The school district released a statement on the aversion of a strike:

"We are pleased to announce that the Board of Education and the Teachers' Union have reached a resolution to the contract negotiation impasse. Because of this, a teachers strike has been averted and school will continue as normally scheduled on Tuesday, December 18, 2018, including the regular school day and all extracurricular practices, clubs, and school-sponsored events. Final exams, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, December 19, will be held as normal. Regular exam schedules are available on school websites. Further details of the agreement will be made available when finalized."